The Draconic Evolution
by MistiHI
Summary: WIP: After reading through his new storybook of fairytales, Henry was convinced that his adopted mother was the Evil Queen and the only way to break her curse was to convince his birth mother to visit Storybrooke, Maine to meet him and his mother. Operation Swan Queen had begun. But his book didn't tell him everything he needed to know, especially about his draconic bloodline.
1. Chapter 1

"You're my mother." A young boy whispered through the phone line.

"Woah, is this a joke?" Questioned the woman as the insides of her stomach started doing somersaults, front handsprings, and aerial cartwheels like a gymnast during a floor performance, hope, and excitement growing with the mention of her being the kids' mother.

"If you want to see me then you need to come to Storybrooke, Maine. I will text you the co-ordinates because you won't find directions on a map."

"How do I know this isn't a joke or something? It's common knowledge that I have been looking for my son for ten years, since the day he was kidnapped." She heard a gasp on the other end of the phone line.

"I was kidnapped?" The innocent voice asked.

"Well, my son was kidnapped by his father. I will be there by morning and will explain more when I arrive."

"Okay, I need to go, bye." The boy replied quickly before putting down the phone.

He had found his birth mother, the Savior. It was easy to find her through the internet, and with a little assistance from Miss Blanchard's credit card, he was also able to locate a telephone number. He had a plan, an operation to be exact and Emma Swan needed to be here in Storybrooke for Operation Swan Queen to be successful.

He texted her the co-ordinates to Storybrooke as their little town will not be on any map in the world and directions will be null along the roads. The only difficult part to enact his operation will be convincing his brunette mother. She will dislike the fact that he went behind her back and found his birth mother, he is aware of her need to be in control, and little does she know, but he has also seen her be very angry towards people if they don't do as she demands, she never asks, she demands.

If she refused to meet Emma or allow him to meet Emma then he foresaw the women going head to head attacking each other verbally and maybe physically. His mother will not give him up to Emma, and he didn't want her to but he did want the two women to be civil with each other, he needed for them to be civil towards each other. His love for his mother ran deeply within and she always made it known that he was the most important person in her life, she will do anything to protect him, including forbidding Emma Swan entry into his life. As his eyes glazed towards the clock on the wall that was ticking nearer to his bedtime, he knew he had to speak to the brunette before morning, sighing in acknowledgment to the task before him, he left his bedroom to search for his mother.

"Mom?" Henry called entering the pristine kitchen of their home and watching his mother put away dishes from the dishwasher.

"Yes, my prince?" The woman smiled as she turned around to acknowledge her son.

"I need to talk with you."

"Okay, why don't we go into the family room and discuss what's on your mind," Regina suggested. She knew whatever needed to be discussed was important to her son as he had been acting strange the previous two days, distant almost and that worried her tremendously.

They moved to the sofa and Regina tucked her legs under her as she sat facing her son. After a moment Henry sighed and thought he may as well get it over and done with, like ripping a band-aid off a wound. "I found my birth mother." He blurted out.

Regina gasped in surprise and possibly hurt. Did she not show him how much she loves him? Is his life so bad that he… is she such a bad mother that he needed to find his real mother? She knew there was a possibility of this day coming… but… never thought he would be the initiator and especially at only ten years old.

"Mom, calm down." He tried to soothe her wandering mind.

"Henry…"

"Mom, I love you. I love you more than anyone or anything in the world. I never searched for her because you were a bad mother, you're the best mother any child could ever have."

"Then why? Why would you search for her?" Tears threatened to fall from the normally stoic brunette.

"Because she is the key to finding your true happiness, your happy ever after." The young boy shared.

"What are you talking about, Henry? You are my happily ever after and I wouldn't want it any other way." His mother responded with a little uneasiness. She never believed in the fairytale of happy ever after, or true loves, those are only for the heroes, not the villains, the brunette mused to herself.

"Mom… she will have arrived by morning, I have spoken to her and given her our address."

"Henry!" Regina groaned, her right hand rubbing furiously against her forehead. "She's going to take you away from me… I… my heart will…"

"Mom!" The boy screamed. "I'm not going anywhere and I don't care what she says or what she does, I will never leave you. You're my mother and will always be my mother." The boy vowed.

Regina was on the precipitous of screaming at her son before a sudden realization dawned on her. How the hell will his mother enter Storybrooke? She cannot if she is not from the Enchanted Forest. Suddenly, Regina felt at ease and slowly released a breath she had unknowingly held in.

"Then why would you contact her and bring her here?"

"The curse," Henry replied searching his mother's reaction, noticing the quick flash of shock across her face before she concealed it, feigning ignorance to any knowledge regarding the curse.

"Curse? What are you talking about, Henry?" She asked as a mantra kept replaying in her mind - he does not know about the curse… he does not know about the curse… he does not know about the curse.

"The curse of the Evil Queen Regina on the citizens of the Enchanted Forest, mom." He watched as tears slowly fell down his beautiful mother's tan cheeks. "She is part of you, but she is no longer who you are and your heart is so good. Mom, I know you weren't born evil, I know there were circumstances in your upbringing that lead you down that path."

He knows I was a murderer… he knows I was a murderer… he knows I was a murderer… "My prince, you…"

"No. We need to break the curse, mom. For you, for the citizens of the town, for Emma and me. Please?" He whispered as he snuggled against his mother.

"Emma? Her name is Emma?" Please don't let it be.

"Yes, Emma Swan. She's the Savior who will break your curse and…"

"Defeat the Evil Queen." The Brunette spat out, cutting her son's sentence off. How ironic is it that she raised Snow White's grandson and the son of the prophesized Savior?

"Yes, but I don't believe she will defeat you with revenge, mom. She can cross the town line too; she is from the Enchanted Forest. Please don't be angry, we need to do this."

She can cross the town line, she is from the Enchanted Forest… She can cross the town line; she is from the Enchanted Forest. Her third mantra within minutes running through her mind. "Henry, you know I will do anything for you, anything in the world, but why to break the curse, are we not happy?"

"Are you mom, are you truly happy?" His hazel eyes boring into her coffee-colored globes.

"Of course, I am, I don't expect to be happier than I am with you. If we break the curse people are going to want to hold me responsible for ripping them away from the Enchanted Forest and kill me."

"They won't, Emma won't let them and neither will I."

"You're so brave, my prince but…" What was she going to do? Regina thought as she looked at her son's hopeful eyes, she could never deny those eyes, even if her life depended on it. Closing her eyes for a moment and exhaling loudly she finally spoke. "Okay, Henry. But when she arrives, I will like us to go and do blood at the hospital, just to be sure." She watched as her son rolled his eyes, she taught him well she thought before smiling.

"I love you, mom." He whispered as he snuggled in tighter.

"I love you too, my prince."

"Oh… there's something else I need to tell you."

"I think you have surprised me enough for one night." His mother sighed.

"Ahh… you need to know this, I only found out myself from Emma."

"Okay, what is it?"

"I was kidnapped."

"You were what?" Regina jumped from the sofa in shock.

"She said she has been searching for me for ten years because I was kidnapped. She said my father kidnapped me. She will explain more when she arrives."

"Kidnapped? I don't believe this." Regina worried as she unconsciously rubbed her forehead again before sitting back beside her son. After a moment to digest the new information, the family sat in silence as both parties were lost in their thoughts and worries. It wasn't long after, that Regina suggested Henry go to bed while she prepared the guest room for their impending guest.

An hour after leaving the guest room, Regina had completed her nightly routine and snuggled down in her bed, her mind was like a maze, trying to find its way out of all the information her son shared with her tonight, she was scared. For the last 28 years, she has controlled everything in her town and her life, except for Henry's arrival of course, and the knowledge enclosed in Neal's or Baelfire's Will, that he was her half-brother. She would never have foreseen that discovery, her mother having an affair with the Dark One years before she met Regina's father, Cora gave birth to Baelfire and relinquished her rights as a parent to his father and his wife Milah. Unfortunately, Milah later found true love with a pirate and abandoned her family.

Then there was Baelfire's involvement in Henry's kidnapping and how the hell did he get himself involved with the prophesized daughter and Savior of Snow White and her fake Prince Charming? The brunette knew change was coming with the arrival of Emma Swan and felt unprepared. How is she going to reign control over the town if the curse is broken? What will the Savior do to her in retaliation? Thoughts of approaching Rumplestiltskin for advice briefly appeared only to vanquish when she recalled ten years of arguments between the two regarding Henry's custody.

Worry etched the woman's forehead; she didn't want to revert to her dark self and that thought alone plagued her. Immersed in deep thought, she missed the opening of her door and the quiet footsteps that made their way to her bed, it wasn't until she felt the blankets lift and a body sag down on the bed that she realized Henry had entered her bedroom.

"It's alright, mom. We will be alright; she will protect us. Nothing bad will happen to you." He murmured into her shoulder.

"I wish I held your faith, my prince. If I lose you, I don't know what may happen to me. And if the people do something to me, I cannot fathom what will happen to you." She could feel her eyes glaze over as she spoke the truth to her son.

"I told you before, I will never leave your side and Emma will protect us. Trust me, please. Let's get some sleep, tomorrow may be a long day." He urged his mom to move closer to him and held her tight. He knew she would worry and would stay awake all night fretting if left alone.

"I love you, my prince." Regina slowly released a deep sigh, her son has always kept her grounded and safe with his love, she just needed to trust in his hope and belief that everything will be okay, which was easier said than done.

"I love you too mom." Regina noticed the flicker of red in her son's eyes as he replied, she never tired of seeing that color in his eyes, they always gave her confidence and surrounded her heart with warmth. Seconds later, they both closed their eyes and succumbed to the world of the sandman.


	2. Chapter 2

Driving down the solitary road into what she could only deem as no man's land for there was not a light, a car, or another soul in sight, the blonde woman expressed her frustration momentarily through her gold glowing eyes before the familiar sparkle of hazel returned. All her life her eyes flashed exposing a quick golden color when she was angry, or an ice blue when she was happy and excited, sometimes the color lingered and other times in a blink of an eye it disappeared. People found it frightening but for Emma Swan, it was normal. Although, when she was angry, it felt as if there was some big dark spectrum deep within her that wanted to release its fury into the world. Her anger was the main reason she grew up in so many foster homes, no one knew how to manage her anger or stop it, rather, no one took the time to know, but she had met a person whose eyes glowed just the same. If not for their fallout maybe they could have become family, they had vowed that they will always be sisters, only to lose touch with each other when Emma told the girl that she wanted nothing more to do with her after the girl stole from Emma's latest foster family.

Fortunately for Emma, she was able to control her anger a lot more because of Cleo, the only person to take the time to teach Emma how to control her anger. Although their time together was a short one, Cleo impacted Emma's life drastically. For it was Cleo who showed Emma the life of a bounty hunter when she tracked down and arrested the blonde for skipping out on bail in Phoenix. At the time, she had no money to feed or clothe herself and being pregnant she would rob stores for necessities, vowing to pay the owners back when she had enough money, that was until she got caught. Her bail conditions required she lived at a halfway house for expectant teenage mothers, and that would have been perfect if she had not noticed Neal following her, so she ran, all the way to New York.

Shaking her head to mentally push the memories to the back of her mind, the bondswoman noticed a yellow line the width of the road, thinking it must be a town line, she started to feel excitement rather than an annoyance in the hopes that she had finally arrived in Storybrooke. As she passed over the line, she felt a strong sensation through her body, slamming her foot down on the brake the car came to a sudden halt.

"What the hell was that?" She rhetorically whispered aloud.

Taking a moment to get her breath back, she glanced up to take in her surroundings and noticed the _'Welcome to Storybrooke' _sign just ahead of her. A smile formed with the knowledge she had arrived and she will finally be able to hold her son in her arms again, well, whom she hoped was her son. Pushing her foot down onto the clutch and brake of the car, she moved the car into gear then slowly released the clutch and pressed more onto the accelerator, her car was moving towards her possible happiness.

As the newcomer to the town drove along the quiet road, the first signs of daylight started showing itself across the horizon, a new day, a new town, a new beginning the blonde wished for herself. The appearance of a line of mom and pop stores indicated her arrival in the town. She observed a ginger-haired man walking a dalmatian along the street, or rather she grinned, the dalmatian walking the man, another man standing on a ladder fixing a sign for a store and a pixie cut brunette holding books as she walked along the street. Further up, she noticed a fluorescent sign highlighting the words _Granny's Diner _and decided to stop there to have some breakfast before she continued to her destination.

The blonde bondswoman pushed open the door to the diner eliciting a jingle of a bell atop the door. As she walked in, she noticed there weren't many people in the diner and the few that were, stopped everything they were doing and started ogling her as if they had never seen a woman before. Refusing to allow the stares to affect her, she continued to the counter and sat down waiting to be served.

"Hi, what can I get you?" A barely dressed brunette asked her.

"Ah… grilled cheese and coffee please."

"Great, I'll put that in and bring it out once it's ready. I'm Ruby by the way." The woman introduced herself before walking off.

Emma didn't need to look around the room to know that everyone continued to stare at her and if she were honest with herself, it was starting to grate on her nerves.

"Hey, Ruby!" She called out to the waitress.

"What's up?" The woman asked as she walked back to Emma.

Emma leaned her body over the counter and moved closer to the waitress before whispering. "Why is everyone staring at me as if they saw a ghost, or I'm some superstar or something?"

"Oh," Ruby replied as she finally took in the surprised eyes around the diner. "That would be because we have never had a visitor to our town before, well, not in the last 10 years."

"Really?" The blonde asked, surprised to hear that.

"Really. So, what's your name, stranger?" Ruby asked as she smiled at the newcomer.

"Emma Swan."

"It's nice to meet you, Emma. Will you be needing a place to stay while you're here? We have a bed and breakfast next door."

"I'm not sure yet, but I will keep that in mind. Thank you."

"No problem, let me go and get your food," Ruby replied as an older woman called from the back.

Thirty minutes later, Emma left the diner after asking Ruby directions to Mifflin Street and drove to her destination.

Meanwhile, a mother sat nervously in her study at 7.30 in the morning holding a glass of whiskey to her mouth, although Henry's reassurances the night before, she was panicking and scared, she woke up to the morning consumed with dread. Showering and dressing without waking her son, she quickly retreated to the kitchen to make Henry his favorite breakfast of apple pancakes. Once he was seated and eating, she excused herself to her study, where she remained while Henry tidied up and went to get ready for Emma Swan.

Five minutes later, Regina heard the sound of the doorbell. She slowly stood up from her chair, placed her glass on the coffee table, straightened out the fanned collar to her grey knee-length and sleeveless dress before plucking imaginary loose cotton off the hem. She knew she was procrastinating but she needed the time to pull herself together.

"Come on, mom!" Henry groaned. "She's pushed the doorbell three times already."

"Okay, okay." The woman replied a little hesitantly as she straightened her back, lifted her shoulders and drew upon the cold and indifferent mask of Regina Mills, Mayor of Storybrooke. She walked towards her son and if not for the next words to leave her mouth, one would never believe that she was scared underneath the façade she is currently manifesting. "Henry, please promise that you will never leave me."

"I will keep telling you the same answer, mom." The boy rolled his eyes. "I am never going to leave you, trust me."

"Okay, my prince. Well, let's go and meet your birth mom, shall we?" She smiled down at her son while her right hand moved to clasp his left hand.

They strode up to the door, mother and son looked at each other and nodded. With a heavy release of her breath, Regina unlocked and opened the door to see the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, her stoic masquerade dropping instantly. Her eyes refused to move away from the woman on her doorstep dressed in a red leather jacket, grey tank top, black skinny jeans that accentuated the thickness of slim thighs, and the knee-high black leather boots that completed the blonde's ensemble. The attire was not her cup of tea, but it was certainly becoming on the blonde. Any words of welcome that were on the tip of her tongue moments ago were now completely somewhere in Amnesia Land. Her eyes were captivated by the glorious blonde, shoulder-length curly mane shrouding eyes that were identical to Henry's, her breath hitching in her throat when she noticed a flicker of ice blue flash in those enchanting eyes that held her gaze. Thoughts and feelings of arousal flowed freely within her mind and body without a trace of anger, hurt, or fear.

Unbeknown to the brunette, as her eyes scanned every detail of the woman before her, so too had the hazel eyes of the blonde woman, observing the elegance of beauty that shone brightly from the woman that opened the door. Emma struggled to contain herself as her eyes flicked in color before maintaining the focus of gorgeous coffee-colored orbs that stared directly into her soul.

"Ahh… hello?" A tiny voice spoke breaking the spell between the two women as they both looked down at their son.

"You're Henry's birth mother?" Regina asked once she had regained her composure.

"Hi" Emma greeted with a smile.

"Hi, I'm Henry and this is my mom, Regina." The boy introduced themselves, holding out his hand to the visitor.

"Hi Henry, it's nice to finally see you again." Without a doubt, Emma knew this kid was her son, he was the perfect blend of herself and Neal, actually, he was also the perfect blend of herself and the kid's mother, strange she thought.

"Why don't you come in, Miss Swan." Regina gestured as she and Henry stood to the side allowing the blonde to enter their home. No blood tests were needed to confirm this is Henry's birth mother, there were so many identical traits to not have noticed the obvious.

"Thank you."

The trio entered the family room, Emma sat on the chair leaving the sofa for the mother and son.

"Would you like coffee or something else to drink?" Regina offered.

"No thank you, I just had breakfast at the diner."

"Okay." Regina had hoped the woman would say yes as she needed a little moment to herself, unfortunately, that was going to have to wait.

"So." Henry began. "You said I was kidnapped?" He addressed Emma, directly.

With a subtle raise of an eyebrow, the blonde replied. "Yes, by your father, Neal."

"Were you not together?" The boy quickly questioned.

"No. I was 17 when we spent the night together, I was drunk and he took advantage of me. I stayed with him for a month until I could find somewhere else to live, but when I realized I was pregnant, I skipped town. I didn't want my child to have anything to do with Neal, he was not a very nice person and I knew if he found out that I was pregnant he would either want me to have an abortion or take the baby away from me. Proving me right when he kidnapped you."

"Wow." Both mother and son replied simultaneously, definitely not expecting to hear anything bad about Neal, although, Regina thought, he was the son of the Dark One.

"I moved twice while I was pregnant because he found me. When I thought I had finally got rid of him, it turned out I was wrong. He stole you from the hospital nursery after I gave birth. He told the nurse that he was my boyfriend and had come to bring the baby to me for feeding, the nurse gave you to him and he simply walked out of the hospital. I've spent every day searching for you but I only had his name and I couldn't find a home town, or parents… it was like he was born out of fresh air."

"You searched for me?" Henry asked.

"Of course, you're my son, there is nothing I wouldn't do for you," Emma explained.

"He is my son!" Regina swiftly interrupted. "I have raised him and you will not sit there under the belief that he will be returning with you to where ever you came from. Let's make one thing clear, Miss Swan, you are only meeting with us because Henry asked, if it were up to me, the knowledge of his whereabouts will still be nonexistent to you." She growled.

"Moooooommmmm." Henry sighed; this is not how he planned the meeting to go.

"No, Henry."

"Look, I understand, but he was kidnapped from me, I never gave him up and I never had any intention of giving him up. I have spent the past ten years searching for him and as much as I want to take him home with me, all I ask is that I will be allowed to be part of his life if he chooses to have me."

"I'm not leaving my mom." Henry defended. "We are the only family we have and I love her more than anyone or anything in this world. I invited you here because I would like you to be in our lives also."

"Henry." Regina sighed as she turned to look at her son.

"No, mom." The boy glanced over the frown that etched into his mother's forehead before gazing into her deep brown eyes. "Don't tell me you didn't feel anything for her when you opened that door." He noticed the blush rising in her cheeks before he turned to his blonde mother. "I was standing there while you two were undressing each other." He smirked as Emma's pale skin began to glow pink. "I need you both to be in my life." He had hidden his hands between his legs to hide his crossed fingers, hoping everything will work out.

The brunette continued to scrutinize her son intently, how the hell did he become so knowledgeable in all thing's relationships or 'curse' related, she wondered. Obviously, She was quite open in her leering towards the blonde, and she had to admit what she felt for the blonde when she opened the door was deeper than just attraction. Shaking her head, she cast a glance towards the blushing blonde who was studying the mother and son just as closely as Regina had Henry. Sighing, the Mayor knew that she was going to cede to her son.

"Okay, Henry, but if I feel that there needs to be a stop to this then I will cease everything." Her son was grinning widely as if he knew she would yield to his plea. "Miss Swan." Regina couldn't believe the words that she was about to say to the woman. "You are welcome to stay in our guestroom if you shall please." Now, she had the blonde smiling at her in delight and what a glorious smile it was. "But do heed to what I am about to say. All decisions regarding Henry will be mine to make and mine only until I deem otherwise. If you overstep, I will have no problems with evicting you out of our home and our lives." She watched as the blonde nodded her head while still smiling. Then finally, Regina returned the smile. "However, I am open to all of us getting to know each other." Regina gasped in surprise when she found two pairs of arms wrapping around her body and the individuals voicing their thanks, both actions evoking a warm smile from the brunette.

Forty-five minutes later, Emma was settled in her new room, she didn't have much but that was nothing new, every time she traveled to a new town in the hope that she would find her son, she always took her belongings made up of three boxes and a duffel bag. For the past ten years, her life has been following one lead after another or capturing bail jumpers, last night she followed her last lead and it led her directly to her son and his captivating mother.

The feeling of arousal earlier at the front door had yet to dissipate but she sure hoped it would soon, there is no way she can make a move on her son's mother or Regina will throw her out the door like a rock on a slingshot. To distract her from any thoughts of the brunette, Emma decided to call her landlord back in New York and handed in her notice, with no reason to return to the apartment, the landlord released her early from their contract without any penance to be paid. As she descended the stairs and headed towards the voices in the kitchen with a skip in her step, she felt extremely happy and she couldn't believe it.

"Emma!" Henry greeted. "Come and have some cookies that mom baked, there's also milk if you want a drink."

"Wow, homemade cookies? I've never had that before; they look so delicious." The blonde shared before taking a bite and moaning in pleasure to the delectable taste. "Regina, these are divine." She mumbled before taking another bite, unaware that her fellow cookie eaters sat staring at her in wonderment to her revelation. It wasn't until she demolished her first cookie that she noticed the sound of voices had halted. Looking at the wide-eyed expressions of her counterparts, she blushed. "What?" She whispered, wiping her mouth with her hand at the thought of having crumbs scattered around her lips.

It was Henry who spoke first. "You've never had homemade cookies before?" He asked sadly.

"Ahh nope. None of my foster parents baked or cooked for that matter, and I don't have friends either, I'm a bit of a loner."

"Oh my god, Emma, I'm so sorry." Regina turned away from the blonde and her son to recompose herself. Guilt sat deeply in Regina, guilt for forcing Emma's childhood upon her.

"Why are you sorry? It's not like you left me on the side of the road to die during winter." Emma shrugged before picking up another cookie.

"You were abandoned on the side of a road?" Henry asked quietly and then turned to his mother. "Why would they do that, mom? Why would they send her away knowing that there was no one to look after her? She could have died! What kind of parents can do that to a helpless baby?" His eyes flickered gold in anger. He understood that Snow White sent her baby through a portal but what he could never grasp was why she sent the baby with no protection, no adult, why Snow White herself didn't go with her baby.

"Henry, sometimes parents do things because there is no other way, other times it's to keep the child safe…"

"Safe? By the side of the road, mom?"

"I know, my prince. Maybe circumstances weren't the best at the time, maybe there was a bigger threat and they hoped someone would find the baby." She was to blame, she was the reason that Snow White sent her baby away but she couldn't tell Henry that in front of Emma, who at that moment was looking at the two with a slack jaw and wide eyes. "I'm sorry, Henry." She lowered her eyes to her fidgeting fingers atop the counter, she knew Henry would understand her apology.

"It was not your fault, mom. They made that decision, there is always a choice." He stood on his tiptoes and pecked his mother's cheek, a flash of red highlighting his pupils demonstrated his feelings towards his mother.

"I love you too, my prince." She smiled.

"Oh, you two are so darn cute!" Emma grinned. "If I didn't know better, after listening to your conversation, I'd say you two know who my parents are and knew their reasoning for abandoning me." The mother and son laughed in reply before one took a sip of her milk, looking away and the other bit down on another cookie.

Emma thought their reaction was strange, as a deflection to her assumption, but that would be silly, right? They couldn't know her parents, could they? If only they had answered, she would have been able to decipher if they were lying or not. Shaking her head, she picked up another cookie and smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

Later, after wishing Henry a goodnight the two women found themselves together sitting in Regina's study drinking a deserving glass of homemade apple cider. They had both enjoyed their evening as Emma shared Henry's birth and presented Regina with a copy of Henry's first and second ultrasound photos. Henry was in awe and the brunette cried as she stared down at the photos, surprising herself by hugging the blonde woman to express her gratitude. In return, Regina shared moments and photos of Henry growing up, his first words, his first step, and his birthday, she had everything well documented and organized.

"Regina, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"How… when… how did you get Henry?"

Regina took a moment to think of her reply before turning to face the blonde woman sharing the couch with her. "It was very unexpectedly; as Mayor of the town, I was awoken one night by the local Sheriff informing me that there was a car crash at the town line and the only survivor was a newborn baby. At the time we didn't have child services so I drove out to the crash site, the Sheriff handed me the screaming baby and I brought him home." She paused for a moment to take a sip of her drink. "As soon as I held him in my arms, his crying ceased instantly and I felt a protective connection towards him." She reminisced with a smile. "The following day, the Sheriff arrived on my doorstep and handed me an envelope, he informed me that it was the Will of a Neal Cassidy, the coroner had found it in the man's jacket pocket. I had no idea who he was, where he was from or why he was even in our town. However, that was soon explained in the Will." She paused again as she knew she could not go into detail to what exactly was in the Will as Emma is still to learn of the curse. "It turns out that Neal was my older half-brother, his father and my mother had an affair before I was born. He also explained that he was the father of the baby and had yet to give him a name. Neil had decided to come to Storybrooke to search for both myself and his father in the hopes of creating a family for his son. There was no mention of the child's mother." Regina looked up into Emma's eyes that showed a hint of anger. "Neal also wrote that if anything should happen to him, I was to be the executor of his Will and also the legal guardian of his son."

"So… he stole him from me so that he could start a new life with our son here in Storybrooke?"

"Basically, yes."

"Argh, I hate him!" Emma growled. "If he were in front of me today, I would rip his heart out and squeeze it so tight that it would burst." She threatened, unaware of Regina wincing at the mention of ripping his heart out, an action that used to be a favorite past time of hers. "But then, I think about him dying and you raising our son. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect mother for my son… well, myself excluded of course, but I am glad Henry had you, Regina. I see that Henry hangs the moon and the stars for you, but I also see that reflection for Henry, you are each other's world and have an unbreakable bond. There are no words to express my gratitude towards you for what you have given our son." The blonde reached over to gently wipe the tears that were slowly cascading down Regina's cheek.

"I used to worry that I would turn out like my mother." The brunette laughed as she wiped at her tears. "God, I hated her, she always expected more from me, I was never good enough and I vowed that if I were to ever have children, I would not treat them as she did me. Thank you for your kind words, they truly mean a lot."

"Of course. So, why the name Henry?"

"I named him after my father, he was a kind and generous soul and I loved him dearly, if he could have stopped my mother from hurting me, he would have, but she was too powerful. So, he would try and be the person to pick me up after one of her episodes."

"And Daniel?"

Regina looked down into the auburn liquid and smiled sadly. "He was my first love; we were going to run away and elope but he was murdered before we could. Before Henry's arrival, my father, Daniel and my nursemaid were the only people to show me what love felt and looked like and I wanted Henry to personify that love."

"That's beautiful, Regina," Emma commented as she grasped the older woman's hand and squeezed it before releasing it. "As I said, you are the perfect mother for our son."

The two women retreated to their bedrooms not long after their conversation, Emma was exhausted after driving all night to get to Storybrooke and then spending the day getting to know Henry and Regina, she was lucky to have removed her jeans before dropping onto the bed face first and falling asleep.

Regina laid in her bed thinking over the day spent getting to know Emma Swan. She couldn't help but snicker at the lack of resemblance between Emma and her parents, except for Charming's blonde hair, it was difficult to find any other similarities between the three, along with the addition of the flickering color of eyes left the brunette confused. Regina found Emma to be refreshing, humorous and kind. Her mind instantly thought of the cookie moment, how could the woman have never tasted a homemade cookie before? What pathetic people will deny a child a cookie? She felt the guilt of the effects her curse had on the blonde woman's life and nibbled her lower lip wondering how on earth Emma Swan will forgive her.

The following morning, Emma sat at the dining table sipping a cup of coffee while reading the newspaper that she heard arrive with a bang at the front door. She glanced at the clock on the wall and assumed her housemates will be down shortly as she had earlier heard someone walking around and a couple of thumps across the landing. Breakfast was made, coffee brewed, table set and a juice for Henry ready beside his placemat. As she continued to peruse the newspaper, she could hear the faint sounds of heels descending the stairs and the quick run of soled shoes following.

"Good morning!" She greeted the mother and son as they entered the kitchen.

"Morning, dear," Regina replied before halting her footsteps and looking around the room. "You made breakfast?"

"Yeah, I wanted to surprise you both and thank you for having me." She blushed.

"Yum, this is great, Emma." Henry smiled as he had already started digging into the waffles.

"Thank you, dear, this is surprising."

Emma couldn't help but stare over the top of the newspaper at the beaming brunette whose smile could light up an entire room, she was breathtaking.

Taking a seat and sipping on her coffee, Regina returned to look at the blonde. "Anything interesting in there today?"

"Not sure." The blonde responded. "I'm looking for a job, I'll need to earn some money so I won't have to live off my savings."

"Oh…" Regina thought for a moment before continuing. "I may have you a job, didn't you say you were a bail bondsperson?"

"Sure did."

"Well, that should give you some experience. Our local Sheriff department has enough in its budget for a deputy if you're interested? Graham has been advertising the position for such a long time but no one has been interested."

"A deputy?" Emma grinned. "I think I'll like that, thank you."

"Great. I will talk with Graham this morning and then let you know the details."

"That's so cool Emma!" Henry jumped with joy to hug Emma. "That means you will be staying here for a long time."

"Of course, kid. You're here. I don't plan on going anywhere."

"We're happy to hear that, right mom?"

"Yes, my prince. We are happy to hear that." Regina's eyes captured the stare of the blonde woman. "Very happy."

As they finished breakfast, Regina cleaned away the dishes while Henry shot up to his room in a hurry. He was over the moon that Operation Swan Queen was moving quickly in the right direction, but now he needed to start feeding Emma stories of the curse. Thankful it was a Saturday; the boy fetched his storybook from the shelf then returned to the ground floor.

"Henry Daniel Mills, you better not be running in the house."

How does she do that? Henry wondered as he stopped running and slowly descended the stairs, looking everywhere to see where his mother was and how she knew he was running. He entered the kitchen just as both of his mothers were exiting.

"What do you have there, Henry?" Regina asked

"It's a storybook, my favorite. I was wondering if you and Emma would read some of it with me today."

"That sounds good." Emma agreed.

"Of course, Henry." Mom agreed. "Let's go into the next room and get comfortable."

Henry sat between his two mothers on the sofa with the leather-bound storybook on his lap and waited for everyone to get comfortable before opening the book to the first story.

"So kid, what's this book about then?" Emma asked as she glimpsed down at the first picture of a young brunette woman in the woods.

"It's a collection of fairytale stories, Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, but it gives more background to the stories. Do you want to start?"

"Sure," Emma responded. She returned to the picture of the brunette and felt a strange connection, the brunette looked oddly familiar but Emma had no inkling as to why. "Once upon a time…"

Regina gasped when she heard Henry give details to his book, surely, he didn't learn of the curse through a book? She frowned a little before clearing her mind of thoughts of the curse and looked down at the book, only to see her younger self standing in the woods. Oh my, she thought.

After reading the first page of the story, Emma was surprised she found the story very intriguing. "So, not long after Snow White's mother died, her horse was startled and fortunately for her, a young miller's daughter saved her, which started Snow White's fascination with the young heroine? A heroine that was raised in an abusive home…"

"Yes, it's very contextual," Henry replied. "How do you find the story so far?"

"Contextual, kid? Do you read a dictionary for fun?" The blonde laughed as her son's eyes narrowed. "It is all very interesting, the brunette looks familiar though, I'm not sure why." Emma shared.

Regina's eyebrows furrowed with worry, all they needed was for Emma to realize she was the Evil Queen before completing the story. Reading the story had brought back a lot of memories for the woman and panic ensued. "Why don't you two continue while I make us some sandwiches for lunch." She suggested.

"Sounds great, Regina, thank you." Emma graciously replied.

An hour later, Emma had completed the story of the Evil Queen and continued to nibble slowly on her chicken sandwich, her mind attempting to control her anger.

"Are you alright, Emma?" A husky voice asked.

"Yes… I just… may I ask you a question?"

"Of course." The brunette replied as she looked over to Henry who was silently analyzing Emma's posture and facials, noting the slight anger within his blonde mother.

"Why do you allow Henry to read these stories? The assault on that young woman by Snow's father is unforgivable and a kid shouldn't be privy to that kind of thing at a young age."

"Firstly, many young children are privy to assault, in many cases assault by their father towards their mother or themselves. Secondly, my son's comprehension is at a higher standard than others of his age, he understands that those events led the brunette to become the Evil Queen, that cruelty can turn a loving hearted person towards mass destruction of anger." Honestly, Regina thought to herself, if she knew the storybook had been this explicit in depicting her life, she would have never allowed Henry to read it.

"Mom didn't know I had the book until recently, this is the first time she has read it so she didn't know what was written." Henry defended his brunette mother. "When I first read the Evil Queen's story, I was furious at how she was treated." He continued as he looked up to his mother's smile. "I wanted to kill her mother and then torture and kill Snow's father."

"Henry!" His mother gasped in surprise at her son's wrath.

"Mom, they would have deserved it. If I were a dragon, I would have snatched Cora up, bit down on her multiple times, swallowed her then burped with satisfaction." He laughed along with Emma. He had always had a fascination with dragons, especially Maleficent – The Mistress of Darkness, except for his brunette mother, Maleficent was his favorite Disney character.

"It's a good thing you're not a dragon then kid." The blonde laughed unaware of the brunette chewing nervously on her lower lip. "I think you should snatch up Snow White too, kid, the world definitely won't miss a self-serving spoilt princess."

"Okay you two, enough of the conspiracy theories, why don't we get ready to go to Granny's for dinner?" The brunette suggested. If only Emma knew her own story, the brunette thought as she followed her two-house mates as they quickly ran up the stairs to get ready.

Time ticks by slowly when your only friend is darkness, damp concrete floors and cold brick walls are your only comfort, but need for revenge keeps you warm, and thoughts of a reunion with your kin offer a bright light within the gloominess of your surroundings.

Magic kept the powerful enchantress restrained within the tenebrous cave, it was a powerful spell and every second she remained in there her anger grew in desperation towards her former ally and friend. Not only is her imprisonment a painful reminder of her inability to defend herself but also the fact that she has spent all this time in her original form adds more fuel to the fire. The only appeasement to the dilemma is the fact that she doesn't suffer from hunger or thirst, but there are other aspects to quench both bodily needs she thought.

Nightmares have taunted her immensely, nightmares of thieves in the night stealing one of her most valuable treasures from within her grasp, forcing her to wake and cry with intense savagery over the loss of her baby. Thoughts towards the princess & her prince engulfed the beast's golden eyes with hatred, hate that overshadowed her anger towards her former friend. If she were to ever see the light of day again, death will be eminent for the thieving royals. Silently, she sat on the cold floor and conceptualized various plans of murder before grinning and snuggling down to sleep.

A month had passed with the Swan Mills family getting to know each other. They were becoming a family unit, their days consisted of Emma cooking breakfast, and Regina cooking dinner as breakfast meals were the only meals Emma knew how to cook. During the day, Henry went to school and Regina to work, while Emma would tidy up the house and then venture around Storybrooke to become familiar with the town and the citizens before she started her new job. Evenings consisted of family game nights, movie nights or if Regina had work to do in her study then Emma and Henry would play video games. Emma thought their family was almost perfect and loved it, after all of her twenty-eight years, she finally felt like she had a home and a real family. She wanted more but she dares not attempt to light that flame lest she tears her family apart. So, she chose to cherish her situation for everything that it offered her.

"Hey, did you guys think that Mary Margaret lady looked like Snow White?" The blonde asked as the family sat down on the sofa after returning from dinner at the diner.

"Now that you mention it," Regina replied. She had no idea how she and Henry were going to convince Emma of the curse but thought the woman to be rather adept at identifying similarities.

"Did you think anyone else in the diner looked like someone in the book?" Henry asked.

"Well, I didn't want to say earlier but when it was mentioned that the Queen's name was Regina, I had realized that was who the brunette reminded me of." The blonde replied as she turned towards the other woman in the room. "You." She whispered.

"Yes, that was rather by coincidence that we share the same name."

"Did the author base all of the character's appearances on the townsfolk?"

"I don't think so, Emma. There are people mentioned in this book that don't live here." Henry responded to his blonde mother.

"Then that is some scary coincidence, to have a character named after you and look like you. I might keep reading the book with you if you don't mind, kid?"

"Sure. We can read some more tonight when I go to bed."

"That sounds like a lovely plan for you both." Regina smiled and turned to Emma after Henry announced he was going up to his room to read a comic. "Miss Swan, I have asked Graham to stop by shortly, to introduce you both as you will be starting work in the morning."

"Great, Regina, thanks so much."

"Not a problem." The brunette nodded as she stood to walk towards the door after the family heard the sound of the doorbell. "That would be him." She informed Emma as she opened the door to greet their guest. "Graham, thank you for calling by, please, do come in."

"Thanks, Madam Mayor." The Sheriff replied as he walked in and waited for his hostess to lead him into the family room.

"Graham, I would like to introduce you to Emma Swan, Emma, this is Sheriff Graham Humbert." The brunette's eyebrows raised in surprise to the Sheriff's broad smile towards her Emma… then frowned at the reference, since when did she start referring to her son's other mother as 'her Emma'?

"It's nice to meet you, Emma. I cannot wait to have some help in the office." The man continued to smile as he unashamedly raked his eyes up the blonde's body, not noticing the furious brown eyes that were now throwing daggers towards him.

"Well… yeah… ah… it's nice to meet you too." Emma replied. The blonde had begun to have second thoughts about the job as she noticed the Sheriff's leering eyes.

"Graham, it will do you well to remember your place, especially at this particular moment in my home." The Mayor growled, snapping Graham out of his demeanor.

"I apologize Madam Mayor." He lowered his eyes as he saw black eyes clouded by anger attempting to kill him.

"Right." Reinga calmed herself a fraction. "Emma will be starting in the morning and you will take her on patrol then inform her of everything she needs to know." She then turned to glance at Emma and noticed the nibbling of her lower lip.

"Yes, Madam Mayor." The Sheriff responded.

"Thank you, you may take your leave." The Mayor ordered and the Sheriff retreated to leave the mansion while she moved to stand in front of the blonde.

"Emma… are you okay?"

"Sure."

"I apologize for his behavior; I have never seen him react that way towards a woman before. He's been acting rather peculiar this past week." She had also noticed other people in the community had been acting strangely during the week, Ruby started sniffing around people and one of the dwarves now carried a pick-ax everywhere as if it were a backpack. Were these signs of the breaking of the curse?

"It's okay, Regina. It's not like it's the first time that has happened to me." The blonde smiled but Regina noticed that it did not reach her eyes.

"If you don't want to work there anymore, I understand. We can look for another job."

"No, no. This is no trouble and I can look after myself."

"Are you sure, dear? I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"Yes, I'm sure. His leering just took me back to a place I thought I had left in the past."

"I'm here if you need to talk, and we have ample alcohol at our disposal, dear." The golden-skinned beauty grinned. "But, if he does give you trouble, please do not hesitate to tell me."

"Thanks, Regina. I think I am going to pass on the alcohol for now as I promised our son that I will read with him."

"That's fine. Why don't you head up? I'm going to do some work in my office. Goodnight, dear."

"Night, Regina, and again, thank you so much for everything." The blonde quickly hugged the brunette, well quickly may not have been the case as once both women touched it felt like time slowed for them both, until, Regina stepped back and smiled before leaving for her office.

Emma felt stupid for initiating the hug, she kept scolding herself as she watched the most beautiful woman in the world walk away_. 'Get your shit together, Swan! You can't ruin this.'_ She inwardly berated herself before stomping up the stairs towards her son's bedroom.

"How did you find the story last night, Emma?" Regina asked as the blonde poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. She had woken earlier than Emma this morning and made breakfast for everyone in celebration of Emma's first day on the job.

"I do hate Snow White and her idiot husband, I seriously do," Emma responded and grinned when she heard Regina snort. "Did you snort?"

"I did not and you have no proof to suggest otherwise," Regina smirked but it was the twinkle in her eyes that Emma noticed and vowed to bring that twinkle of jest back into Regina's eyes more often.

"Mom, the book was different last night," Henry mentioned as he kissed his brunette mother on the cheek in greeting and then surprising Emma, proceeded to greet her with the same affection.

"Morning, kid." She smiled as her eyes glassed over.

"Why was it different?" Regina asked hoping to give Emma a little time to wipe her tears before Henry noticed.

"It had a story in it that I know was not in there before."

"Kid, I told you last night, that is impossible, maybe the pages were stuck together and you just skipped passed it or something."

"Mmm…" Henry replied with a frown.

"Well, what story was it?" Regina asked

"Snow White & Prince Charming stole Maleficent's egg."

"They what?" Reinga shrieked loudly in shock as she jumped quickly from her chair not hearing it fall to the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

"Woohh… wohh… it's only a story." Emma called as she tried to calm Regina.

Only a story? Regina's mind screamed. Oh my god, they stole Mal's baby and she didn't even tell me! She is going to murder me, not only for trapping her in the cave under the library but because she couldn't go and search for her baby. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!

"Regina, why do you look like you're about to hyperventilate?" Emma worried.

"What happened in the story? Did Maleficent get her baby back?" Reinga quickly asked although she was sure she knew the answer to that question already. She picked up her chair and sat down. "Why did they take the baby?"

"Because of that stupid son…g bird of a princess had a vision after touching a unicorn's horn that her daughter will grow up, rip out her mother's heart and kill her." Emma informed the brunette.

"What has Maleficent's baby got to do with that?"

"Snow wanted to extract all of her baby's evil but she needed another vessel, so they stole the egg because they thought that it was only a dragon and it was going to be evil anyway." Henry babbled off before taking a breath and continuing. "You know, Queen of Darkness and stuff… they got the Sorcerer's Apprentice to do the job and when he was finished, he opened a portal and threw the egg through it just as the baby was hatching."

"Those stupid idiots!" The brunette growled, alarming the blonde. "I need to go, I will see you both this afternoon, Henry have a good day at school and Emma, if you need anything or if something happens you call me, okay." She smiled at the duo.

"I will Regina, but are you sure that you're okay?"

"I'm fine, I forgot I had an early meeting. Bye."

"Bye Mom, love you," Henry called to his mother's receding back.

"Wow kid, she was rather intense don't you think?"

"Aha…" He responded as he wondered if the important meeting was with Maleficent, then he started to wonder which one of the townspeople she was. He hoped his mother was meeting Maleficent, the excitement of possibly meeting her would be a dream come true for the young boy.

* * *

An eyelid flicked open to peer out into the darkness after she was awoken from her slumber by the sound of metal dropping onto the concrete floor. '_Does someone dare venture into my cavern without an invitation? This should be interesting.' _The dragon mused quietly to herself.

"Mal! Mal! Can you hear me?"

Both eyes changed to the color of gold upon hearing the lower registered voice of her former friend, thoughts of revenge and murder quickly entered her mind.

"Mal! We need to talk; I am going to break the spell then you can change into your human form. Please don't kill me." The brunette woman could hear the dragon stomping and growl down in the cavern, she knew Maleficent was not happy with her. "Please Mal, don't kill me!" She called down again before she mumbled some words and broke the spell keeping the dragon locked up. "When you've changed, walk into the box that's in the wall and I will bring you up." She instructed her friend. Regina did not dare enter the elevator and lower herself to her friend while she was still in dragon form, she knew without a doubt that Maleficent would have roasted her alive before words could be exchanged.

"I'm going to kill you, Regina. How dare you keep me down here locked up without reason!" The furious blonde stormed out of the elevator dressed in her black cloak and horns on her head as she spotted the brunette standing against the wall. With ease, the Mistress of Evil raised her hands to curse the Evil Queen, only to halt when Regina screamed at her.

"I think I have your child in my home!" Regina screamed, hoping to avoid any punishment that was directed towards her.

"My child?" The blonde suddenly whispered.

"I'm not sure, but her eyes flicker like yours, so I know she has dragon blood inside of her."

"Take me to her at once!" Maleficent demanded.

"I can't... well, I cannot introduce her to you as her mother, because she thinks you're fake."

"What are you talking about, Regina?"

"Mal, you've been down there for nearly 30 years, and your daughter grew up in the land without magic. To her and the rest of the people in the world, we are all fairytales, fables, fictional characters from books."

"Are you insinuating that my daughter believes I am a storybook character?" Maleficent askes in disbelief.

"Yes… and I cursed Snow White because she was more beautiful than I am." Regina frowned as her friend burst out in laughter.

"That is hilarious, dear." The blonde chuckled. "Where are Snow White and her husband, I have a bone to pick with them, actually, by the time I finish with them they will be the bone that I will use to pick my teeth with." She snarled.

"Mal… the curse has yet to be broken. And while we're talking about it, why the hell did you not tell me that you were pregnant and Snow fucking White stole your baby?" The Evil Queen shouted at her friend.

"What would you have done, Regina? I was pregnant when you came for the curse and stole it from me, and when you cast the damn thing, I was still recovering from giving birth and mourning the kidnapping of my child. I had no idea where my family was. You were entirely consumed with darkness to enact the curse that you never thought of anything or anyone else."

"I'm sorry, Mal. I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you." The guilt ate away at Regina for neglecting her friend, how could she not have known that Mal was pregnant?

"And why in god's name did you lock me up?"

"Because you were so angry and I had to protect you and the townspeople. If you went on a rampage and flew out of the town's border you would have forgotten your memory, or the people would have hunted you. Dragons are not normal here in this world."

"You should have damn spoken with me, Regina. I've spent nearly 30 years of not knowing where my family was. Now take me to her and introduce me as your relative or something."

"Okay. I should also tell you that I have a son, and your daughter is his birth mother."

"I have a grandson?" The blonde gasped.

"Yes, and he knows all about the curse, but Emma doesn't… yet."

"Fine. I'm sure I can convince her though." Maleficent smirked.

"Here get changed, you cannot go around Storybrooke in that getup. Once you're done, we will leave and thank you for not killing me."

"You're just lucky that you told me about my daughter, otherwise, your son would be planning your funeral right now." Growled Maleficent as she went into another room and changed into a grey pants suit and white dress shirt, before pulling on black leather ankle boots. Magicking her hair into a French twist updo, the woman was surprised at how sophisticated she looked in the strange but comfortable clothes.

Ten minutes later, the two women walked into the Sheriff's office to find papers everywhere, along with chairs and desks upturned. Emma sat on a chair breathing heavily while a comatose Sheriff laid in a jail cell. Rushing over to the young blonde, Regina was terrified as to what might have occurred.

"Emma." She called as her hand softly caressed the woman's cheek. The blonde responded by raising her head, golden globes scorching with anger trying to focus on the coffee-colored eyes before her. "Come back to me, dear." Regina murmured. "What happened."

"He… he… he attacked me."

The brunette had to reign in her anger that was burning to escape but she knew she had to help calm her Emma. She quickly scanned the woman's body and noticed her clothing still in one piece and sighed in relief. A moment later, she lifted Emma's hand and placed the blondes palm against her chest. "Feel my heartbeat to help calm you down, darling. I take it that you defended yourself?"

"Of course. I am rather skilled in hand to hand combat."

"I'm so glad that you are. Do you need a drink of water?"

"I would prefer whiskey." The blonde smiled, the golden color slowly receding as the beautiful hazel eyes returned.

"I'm sure we can manage that," Regina replied as she noticed movement to the side and remembered her friend, who had her eyes locked onto the man lying head down on the bed in the jail cell. "Dear, I would like you to meet my cousin, Mal. Mal, this is Emma."

"Hello, darling. It is a pleasure to finally meet you." Maleficent's smile shone like a ray of sunshine, lighting the darkness that clouded the room.

"I would have preferred better circumstances, but it's nice to meet you also." Emma returned with a lazy smile. "I'm so sorry, Regina."

"Don't be, dear. As of this moment, I now have a new Sheriff for my town and Mr. Humbert will be dealt with accordingly." Regina could not understand what had motivated the attack as she had never known Graham to act in such an alarming way towards women, and this troubled her. Until she investigated further, she had no other option than to imprison the former Sheriff at the Prison Facility located in the basement of the hospital. "Let us return home, dear. I will organize the relocation of Mr. Humbert and call in Ruby from the diner and David Nolan to manage all calls and the office for the remainder of the day."

"Okay." Emma stood and waited to follow the two older women out the door and into Regina's car.

Maleficent was conflicted with all of the emotions running through her body, as for her thoughts, they were a hive of chatter. _Emma is my daughter, I can feel her and smell her, she is mine! But I thought my daughter had been named Lily Paige… did I unknowingly have twins? If so, then where is Lily? Will we find her? And when can I tell Emma who I am? Maybe I should turn into dragon form, surely, she will believe after that… maybe?_ _And where is the rest of my family, my wife, my oldest daughter? Whatever happened to them?_

The older blonde glimpsed a look at Regina who was steering a wheel to this tin contraption on four wheels. Her thoughts continued to run freely through her mind… _Regina,_ _she was supposed to be my friend but she imprisoned me, I had desperately wanted to kill the woman when I was set free, and now… do I still want to? Or am I grateful to the woman for finding my daughter? And did she say that she has a son and Emma is his birth mother? Are Emma and Regina in a relationship? Would Emma and her son forgive me if I killed Regina in revenge? Hmmm… but Regina calmed Emma down almost immediately…that only means one thing, I guess killing the woman is out of the question. Dammit!_

_As for Mr. Humbert, he will pay and he will pay dearly for attempting to hurt my kin, my blood, my daughter. Now that I will be in my daughter's life, not one person will lay a finger on her or they will answer to the Queen of All Darkness, The Mistress of All Evil, The Dark Fairy herself, Maleficent. _

"Why are you smirking?" Regina asked her oldest friend.

"No need to worry, dear. Is this your home?"

"Yes, this is our home. Come in and I will prepare some lunch."

"Regina, would you mind if I went up to my room?" Emma asked as they walked through the door.

"Of course not, Emma." The brunette walked up to the blonde. "Remember, if you need to talk, I am here for you."

"Thank you." Emma grinned before retreating upstairs to her room as the other two women walked towards the kitchen.

"Regina, what is going on between you and Emma?"

"What do you mean?" Regina replied defensively.

"I want to know what is going on between you and my daughter. Are you attracted to her?" The older blonde questioned.

"Mal…" Regina started as her eyes scanned every surface in the kitchen, refusing to meet her friend's piercing blue eyes.

"I want the truth," Maleficent demanded.

"Alright," Regina replied frustratingly as she began picking invisible lint off her shirt.

"Today, Regina!"

"Why? Why does it matter? It's not like I can do anything about it." Regina mumbled.

"Tell me." Maleficent softened, Regina was never one to share her personal feelings with anyone, but if Mal was correct, then things need to be put in place.

Sighing in defeat, the brunette looked at her friend and swallowed her pride. "I felt it the instant I met her, the moment I opened my door to her. She makes me feel safe… but she is supposed to break my curse, defeat the Evil Queen, she is the prophesied Savior, the supposed daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, although, I have no idea how that is considering she is a dragon. So, there you have it, yes I am attracted to her, yes I cannot get her out of my mind, yes I want her, I want her with me always, from the moment she came into our lives she has become part of my family and I love that feeling, I want to keep that feeling with me forever."

"You do?" A voice startled the two women.

"Emma…" Regina gasped "I… I… how much of that did you hear?"

"Everything, Regina, from the moment you opened the door to me, to everything about the curse, my parentage, dragon… and that you want me to be part of your family forever… is it all true?"

Regina and Maleficent both looked at each other, the brunette unsure how to proceed.

"Is it true?" Emma demanded.

"You are so much like your damn mother," Regina replied frustratingly. "Yes, yes, it is all true and yes I want you to always be part of my forever family." She sighed, bowing her head in shame, her thoughts turning negative as she thought of her son, he is going to be so disappointed in her for ruining what they have built together.

"Then why didn't you say?" The blonde quipped as she walked up to the brunette, cupped her chin and captured the plump lips in surprise.


	5. Chapter 5

Her hands fisted themselves into the cotton of a white tank top, pulling the wearer's body flush against her own as her tongue swiped slowly across thin lips, wanting more, needing more. She was thrilled to feel Emma's hand twisted in the curls of her hair and opening her mouth, permitting the brunette to enter her orifice and their tongues to meet, caress and move to a dance as old as the beginning of time. The couple delighted in the perfect feel of the other against their body as if they were made for each other.

"As marvelous as this is, darlings. I believe we do have other dilemmas to confront today." Maleficent looked amused by the obvious desire that radiated from the kiss shared between the couple. She regarded her daughter and her friend as they finally separated, eyes dark with a hunger for the other. "I swear if I were not here you two would be making more babies for me to love." She chuckled.

Regina cupped Emma's cheek before pecking her lips and turning to acknowledge her friend, whom, Regina admitted was correct, there would have been nothing to have stopped her dragging Emma up to her room. "Thank you for reminding us of your presence, dear friend." She offered a shit-eating grin to the older blonde.

"You're both very welcome. I'd also like to advise that while you two were obviously distracted, you failed to notice the incandescent flash of colors that surged out into the universe?" The older blonde smirked, she had been correct about the couple, although she didn't expect the progress to have moved so rapidly, she admitted that she was over the dark moon that her baby had found true love, even if it were with her oldest friend and former foe.

"Flash… colors… universe?" Regina muttered; her shit-eating grin lost to the past.

"Did the sun reflect off the window or something?" Emma asked with absolutely no idea about the importance of the moment.

"Maleficent, are you kidding? Please say that you are kidding." The brunette was freaking out.

"Regina, there is no question about the moment you two shared. What do we need to do to prepare?"

"Oh my god, this can't be happening right now, Henry is still at school and might get hurt."

"Henry, hurt? What's going on?" Emma started to panic at the thought of her someone hurting her son, on instinct she reached for her hip ensuring her police-issued gun was still in its holster.

"Darling, we broke the curse," Regina whispered.

"The curse?" Emma's eyebrows rose in shock as she considered Regina's words. "Ohhhh riigghhhttt, Henry's curse… that's true… and I'm a dragon… but also the child of Snow White & Prince Charming… and I am the prophesized Savior to break the Evil Queen's curse and defeat her… have I missed anything out?" Emma continued to gaze at Regina as she recalled the words that she overheard earlier between the two women. She wasn't sure how she should react to what obviously sounded like something out of a mentally unstable person's mouth.

"Well, I don't believe you are Snow White & Prince Charming's daughter." Regina offered, wondering why there was no anger, malice, screaming or questions by the unperturbed blonde.

"Oh… you're the Evil Queen!" Emma suddenly screeched. "I knew her picture looked familiar it's of a younger version of yourself." Emma shook her head in embarrassment at finally realizing the obvious.

"I am no longer that person, Emma."

"My Queen, of course, I believe you, and even if you were, I would still love you and every version of you."

"You… you love me?" Regina was completely overwhelmed by the admission but it was definitely wanted.

"Did that kiss not declare our love for each other?" Emma frowned with slight confusion. "I know we broke a curse and I know that it could only be broken by true loves kiss, well, according to the storybook. I may be blonde, and sometimes embody the blonde stereotype by being a little slow on the uptake but I'm not stupid, Regina."

"I don't think you're stupid, Emma. Actually, I was rather awestruck at how adept you were in noticing odd things or similarities between the storybook characters and the townspeople; as if you were conducting your own investigation." Emma smiled at the brunette's response.

"Yeah well, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and acts like a duck… the chances are it's a duck. But ahh… it obviously took me forever to identify your story." She blushed before looking over to Maleficent, who stood against the counter with a big smile. "I started thinking that the curse might be true after watching some of the dwarves with their pick-axes at the mines and then that Jefferson man trying to spin hats… Ruby and her constant sniffing… strange things were occurring more frequently and aligned with the book." Emma explained.

"So, the curse being real doesn't bother you and… you love me?" Regina subtly changed the subject as she circled Emma's waist with her arms.

"How could I not fall in love with you Regina?" Emma asked as she tightened her hold on the brunette. Both woman forgetting they had an audience and an impending doom waiting to happen. "You have accepted me, given me a home and a family. This is my first real home and you and our son gave me that and there is nothing on earth that I am more thankful for than you raising our son in a home filled with love. He is the best version of your love and he personifies all the good that you bestowed upon him while growing up. I love you Regina, and it may have been prophesized that I will defeat you, but that is obviously defeating you with love." The blonde wiggled her eyebrows at her Queen, pulling the crying woman into her arms.

"I love you too, Emma," Regina confessed from within the confines of Emma's arms. "I thought I was happy with only Henry, but having you with us these last few weeks has made me feel complete, and extremely happy. I have never felt like this, and especially not this quick, it scared me because you've blown through nearly every wall I have put up to protect myself but I love coming home to cook for you both, to spend time with you and our son in the evenings, and our mornings together before we all go our own ways. I want this life, Emma. I want it all with you and our son… and maybe that blonde over there." She smiled as she glanced towards her friend.

"I'm certainly grateful that you have thought of me and remembered that I was here." The Queen of Darkness smirked. "And as lovely as these…" She waved her hands in the air towards the couple. "these declarations are, I just want to ask if you realize that the people of this town will have regained their memories and could be knocking on your door soon."

"Oh my god, Henry!" Regina ran out of the room then quickly returned, shoving a photo into Maleficent's hand. "I need you to study his photo then go and get him and return home, you still have your magic and I know you only need to think of a person to transport to them. Please, Mal." The blonde nodded as she focused on the handsome young boy in the photo, thoughts of the young boy consumed her mind as grey violet smoke engulfed her and she vanished from the kitchen.

"What the…?" Emma asked in shock before shrieking when Maleficent suddenly returned along with Henry.

"Henry!" Regina cried as she ran to hug her son. "I'm glad you're home, my prince."

"Mom… what the…?" The boy questioned, unknowingly mimicking his blonde mother's earlier question.

Regina turned him to face Maleficent. "This is my dear friend, Maleficent."

"Maleficent? The dragon?" Henry and Emma asked simultaneously.

"How… where… what…" Henry was confused but excited that his hero was in his kitchen.

"The curse has broken, Henry. I needed you safe."

"Oh, I thought something had happened because everyone in my class started acting strange, how did you and Emma break the curse?"

"Ahh…" Regina hesitated in her reply.

"We kissed kid, but more importantly I want to know more about Maleficent the dragon here and the fact that I am also a dragon, what's the connection?"

"It's perfectly simple, darling." Maleficent acknowledged. "I am your mother."

"Wahhhh… you're my mother, I thought it was Snow White? Am I the egg that was stolen from you?" The surprise and shock expressed through the slight shrill of Emma's voice.

"You know what those Charming's did to me?"

"Yes, Henry and I read it last night in his storybook, so am I?"

"You kissed my mom?" Henry screamed at Emma; it had taken him a moment to comprehend the thought of his mother's kissing. Yes, he did need them to get together, that was the entire purpose of his Swan Queen operation but he thought it would take much longer for everyone to get to know each other, not just weeks. There were questions he still had for Emma and he demanded an answer.

"Yes, kid, I did. Can you be quiet for a moment while I talk to my... mother." Dismissing her son and not noticing the color change in his eyes. However, Regina noticed the quick change and prepared herself to intervene.

"No!" Henry growled. "You kissed my mom! Emma. You kissed my mother, and I demand to know what are your intentions with her." Maleficent quickly took in the anger growing within her grandson and the stiff stance of the brunette, she wondered how Regina will control this uprising.

"Kid!" The blonde finally looked down at her son and saw the anger threatening to blow.

"Don't you kid me and it is definitely my business. If you hurt my mother, you will pay. You may have given birth to me…"

"Henry Daniel Mills!" Regina scolded her son before he could continue with his wrath. "That is no way to speak to your mother, and Emma, please, do not dismiss our son as if he were a nuisance, you're a mother now and sometimes what you need will become second place to his." She scolded the blonde who blushed in embarrassment. "We all have many questions for each other." Regina looked at everyone in the room before continuing. "But right now, there could be a mob marching their way to our front door and I will need to deal with that and all the sanctimonious hypocrites that will be demanding my life. So, please, can we focus on that right now!" Just as the brunette closed her mouth, they heard pounding on her front door. "And they have arrived." She panicked with the knowledge that she no longer had her magic to keep her and her family safe, this time tomorrow she may be dead and buried ten feet under.

"Darling, why don't you let me deal with these hooligans, you remain here with your family."

"No, Mal. You can't go out there by yourself, we don't know who is out there." Regina warned. "We all will go together." She suggested as she took Henry's hand within her own and lead the way to her front door. "I love you, my prince." She smiled down at her son and saw the color red directed towards her, engulfing her with pure love and adoration.

Emma walked up behind her family, embracing Regina's waist with her left arm and placed her right hand over her sons' shoulder. "I'm sorry kid for dismissing you, I've never known anything about where I came from and was excited, I promise I will do better."

"It's okay, I forgive you but later I do want to know what your intentions are with my mother." He reminded her.

"That's easy kid, I'm going to marry her." Emma smiled at the two shocked faces looking at her, eyes flashing red to the two most important people in her life. "And I will die before I let anyone hurt you, Regina. Believe that." She kissed the brunette quickly before nodding towards the door.

Regina turned the knob and opened the door wide, raising an eyebrow to the crowd that stood in her yard. "What do you all want?" She sneered at them.

"Your head on a spike!" One of the dwarves screamed.

"We want you dead!" Jefferson yelled.

"You need to pay for bringing us here!" A female hollered and many heads nodded in agreement.

"You may want for many things, but that doesn't mean you will be successful in achieving it," Emma replied to the crowd as she stepped out and moved in front to protect her queen and her son.

"Emma!" The blonde turned towards the woman that called her name, only to be confronted with Snow White and her Prince Charming.

The blonde rolled her eyes at the predictability of the situation. "Let me guess." She sighed. "I'm your long-lost daughter that you supposedly placed into a magic tree and sent her to the land without magic so that she can grow up and return to save you all on her 28th birthday." Emma rambled on to the not so royal couple.

"Yes, so you know the story? We've missed you so much, Emma, our darling daughter." Snow White cried, stepping forward to wrap her arms around Emma.

Regina gasped in surprise as she watched Snow White reach for Emma, and felt slight anger that Emma allowed the woman to get so close to her. She tightened her grip on Henry's hand and stepped back towards her front door, thinking Emma would betray her.

"You should never count your chickens before they hatch," Emma whispered in Snow White's ear before she shoved the woman away. "I would actually like to introduce you to my real mother." Emma smiled before turning towards the house, noticing with a frown that Regina and Henry had moved away from her, but decided to talk to the brunette about that later as she watched her mother step out of the door and walk towards her.

"She's not your mother, Emma! That woman is a monster!" The pixie cut brunette rebuked as she watched Maleficent walk towards Emma. "Emma, she is evil and consumed by darkness. I am your true mother, I birthed you!"

"Yes, that's a question I need to find the answer to, but Maleficent is definitely my mother. Now, unless you would like to be scorched to ashes, which I believe my mother is waiting patiently to do to you and your husband, then I suggest you leave this property."

"We're not going anywhere!" A blonde man screamed as he ran from the side of the house towards Regina, grasping her throat with his fingers but before he could get a firm grip, he screeched in pain releasing her instantly. As he looked down, his eyes protruded in disbelief.

"Henry!" Regina screamed.


	6. Chapter 6

Trying to pull her son away from the attacker, Regina halts when she notices sharp talons shredding the skin of Victor Frankenstein's stomach. Her son is slowly transforming for the first time before her eyes. "Get your hands off of my mother!" The thunderous voice of the young boy roared. "No one harms my mother!" He threatened. "No one hurts my mother!" The boy continued to bark as he hovered over the man.

"Henry!" Regina cried again. As she kept trying to pull her son away, she failed to notice another person trying to pull the man away from Henry, it wasn't until Henry raised his head to growl at the intruder that she noticed eyes mirroring her sons staring at Henry before blinking momentarily the color red. The two sat there as if they were telepathically talking to each other, with a nod, Henry moved back and snuggled into Regina's chest, instantly her arms wrap around him as she soothes words of love into his ear… minutes pass by before his talons disappear in place of his hands.

Emma watches her family, ensuring their safety and Henry's comfort. When she noticed the return of his hands, a deep growl rumbled from within her, like her son, she had partially transformed also by her heightened anger. She reached out to pierce the skin of the man's throat as she stood and turned to face the crowd. With her face gnarled in anger, she raises the man into the air as if he were only a piece of paper, the crowd gasps as they watch the blood dripping down his body. "You thought you could attack a defenseless woman and think we would stand here and watch?" The blonde glanced around the crowd, looking everyone in the eyes. "If any of you come near my family again, you're going to end up like Dr. Whale here." She was seething with a need to taste blood, another gasp from the crowd was heard when they watched Emma's canines become long, sharp and pointy, her body was slowly transforming.

Noticing the quick changes, Maleficent stepped up behind her daughter, whispering for her to let the man go but Emma's anger was too advanced. As much as she wanted these people to hurt and for some to die, she did not want that for her daughter just yet. Turning towards Regina, Maleficent called to her friend to help.

"You're the only one who can bring her back, Regina. If you don't, she might fully transform and kill everyone."

Regina quickly whispered something to her son and placed him inside the front door before running over to stand directly in front of Emma. Moving forward slowly, the brunette cupped Emma's cheeks and moved closer, forehead to forehead, eye to eye, mouth to mouth. "Emma, my love. Look at me."

The crowd watched in amazement at the Evil Queen and the Savior, who was still holding a now unconscious man.

"Release Victor, darling. He is no longer a threat to me or Henry." She watched as Emma's talons retracted from the man's neck, dropping him instantly as the blonde's hands returned to their human state. "Thank you, my love." She then reached for Emma's right hand and placed it against her bosom. "Now close your eyes and breathe with me. That's it darling. I love you, Emma, I'm sorry for moving away from you." Regina saw the golden eyes return. "I'm sorry for doubting you, I've been hurt so many times by people who were supposed to love me and I let that get the best of me." A low growl could be heard from Emma's throat. "I was wrong to doubt you, darling. I love you with every ounce of my heart. You and Henry are my forever, and I need you to come home, my dearest."

The more Regina spoke to Emma, the more the blonde's breathing returned to normal and the golden color devouring her hazel eyes slowly receded. It was when Emma fell into Regina's arms, shoulders sagging and back slouching that everyone knew it was safe. Regina held tight to her love as Maleficent addressed the would-be mob.

"As much as it killed me to stop my daughter from murdering you all…" She gazed towards the Charmings for a second before continuing her speech. "Do not think for a moment that I won't hesitate to do the job on her behalf. Heed my daughter's warning and stay away from her family, do not attempt to cause her family hurt or pain, because the Dragons have returned, and believe me when I say, you will not wish to play with the Power of Three." The woman chuckled at the frightened looks of the mob. "Oh, Snow White." She called to the brunette woman. "Be warned, I'm coming for you." She sneered in contempt towards the true love couple. "And take your trash with you!" She barked as she flicked her fingers and Victor Frankenstein's body flew in the air and crash-landed on Prince Charming.

The crowd quickly dispersed; the trampled flowerbeds of Regina's former beautiful garden the only physical evidence left by the mob, but the emotional turmoil left with the family was heavy. Regina guided Emma into the home as Maleficent and Henry lead the way, together everyone sat in the lounge, Emma and Henry snuggling on either side of Regina on the couch and Maleficent on the seat.

Each one sat recalling different moments of the fiasco that had occurred, Henry felt nauseated as he thought of his actions brought on by the thought of his mother getting hurt, Regina's mind was clouded by guilt, the guilt of all the people she had hurt in her life, the guilt of the life she forced upon Emma, the guilt of being unable to protect Emma and Henry, and especially the guilt of moving away from Emma after the blonde assured her that she would not let anyone hurt her. Negativity was consuming her entire being as the events of her actions kept replaying in her mind. However, Maleficent was the only person smiling as she sat in her chair proudly, proud of her family, and proud of the love they displayed for each other.

Then there was Emma, she was still slightly angry, angry that someone had got past her to get to her family, angry that… "You don't trust me," Emma asked Regina.

The brunette looked up and could see the anger. "Emma… there are…"

"No!" Emma cut her off before standing and looking down at Regina accusingly. "That's why you moved away; I know, you said you doubted me. You said that, but we don't know each other enough to trust each other. I mean, I trust you completely, but you don't."

"Em… I told you that I was wrong and I'm sorry."

"You realize, that if you trusted me then you would not have moved away from me and I could have prevented him from getting to you and if you hadn't moved away our son would not have nearly killed a man… if you hadn't moved away I would not have been on the brink of murdering a crowd of people."

"Do you think I don't know that?" Regina screamed. "What is it that you want to hear? I didn't trust you because you stood there and let Snow White get up close and personal with you, you stood there and let her put her arms around you and I thought you were going to betray me, betray Henry." The brunette took a breath, wiping at her tears as she looked into Henry's glowing red eyes. "I've had many people who claim to love me only to hurt me, so what is one more? Even if she is supposed to be my true love. And I do trust you, I place more trust in you than I have nearly any other damn person in this world, and if you still do not believe that then I don't know what to say." Regina shook her head before kissing her son's temple, standing and walking out of the room.

"Well, that was just a load of unnecessary emotional hogwash, don't you think?" Maleficent sighed as Henry shook his head in disbelief.

"I was… I am hurt by her actions; do I not get to express that or would everyone prefer that I just bottle it up until it explodes?" Emma growled.

"Darling, there's expressing that hurt and then there's what you did. Don't you think she was already kicking herself for her actions? Like kicking a dog when it's already down." The older woman shook her head in dismay. "She did not need you to shove it down her throat some more, the guilt that woman has will be eating her insides as we speak, and you're upset because for a moment she misjudged you and thought you were going to hurt her like everyone in her life has." Mal quickly turned her head to smile at Henry. "Excluding you, darling." Then she returned to Emma. "I understand you're hurt and I understand that her actions had a domino effect, but she explained her reasonings and by gosh of all times to have told you was when you were still angry, that alone tells me how much she trusts you to not hurt her."

Emma listened intently to the words her mother spoke and felt utterly guilty for her actions and her words to Regina. How could she have been so stupid to have not realized that Regina forwent her safety when she explained her actions to Emma… stupid, stupid, stupid Emma Swan.

The trio sat in the lounge quietly as ten minutes passed by in silence.

"You need to go and talk to my mom," Henry stated.

"Wh… what wi…will I say?" Emma stuttered, she had never had to think of another person's feelings before, nor has she had to apologize to someone who means the world to her.

"The truth." Henry and his grandmother replied.

Emma slowly walked into the study and her heart broke for her love that lay sobbing on the sofa. She walked towards the end of the sofa where the brunettes head lay and kneeled on the floor.

"I want to be alone." Regina groaned.

"No, you don't. You want me to hold you."

"I don't need nor do I want anything from you, Miss Swan. Now leave me be."

"No, I'm not going anywhere unless you're by my side."

"Then I will leave." Regina snapped at the blonde before turning and raising her body to get off the sofa but Emma quickly moved so that her body now kneeled in between Regina's legs.

"I'm sorry, Regina. I'm so sorry for being such a narcissist jackass, I'm extremely sorry, I was hurt but... I know you trust me, I told you that sometimes I am slow on the uptake but I do get it, it was pointed out to me that you confessed when I could have hurt you, but you trusted me to not hurt you and you were right to. Please forgive me." The blonde wiped at her tears as she hoped she would be forgiven. "I love you, Regina, I love you so very much." The brunette sighed and then moved her head towards the blonde and kissed her.

"I do trust you with my life, with Henry's life." Regina cried. "I had built many walls to protect my heart and you have broken down so many in these last weeks but all my life I have been hurt by the people that are supposed to love me. My father loved me and he would show me and tell me, but he could never stop my mother from abusing me, as for my mother she never loved me, and although it was not his fault, Daniel hurt me by leaving me to cope in this world without him…" The brunette swiped at her tears, trying to calm her breathing before continuing. "When you allowed Snow to be close to you, I thought you would betray me just as everyone else has ever done. My heart knew what I was thinking was wrong, but my mind… my mind Emma… it goes to dark places and sometimes I struggle to bring myself back into the light. But I know now that you and Henry do that for me, you are my light and I love you; I love you so very much."

The couple snuggled close together indulging in the feel of each other, Emma still kneeling on the floor and Regina sitting above her on the sofa. Minutes passed by slowly, allowing them to inhale each other's scent.

"I'm glad to see that you two stubborn fools sorted yourselves out. Now, I need to speak to both of you and there is much to discuss, especially in regards to our two new dragons nearly transforming today."

The couple sighed at the interruption. "Mal, can this wait? We've all had a long day and it's only three in the afternoon."

"I suppose so, but keep in mind, I have been locked up for nearly thirty years, Regina, and I have things that need to be done."

"Okay, Mal, once rested we can talk," Emma suggested to her mother before she and Regina departed for the master bedroom and Maleficent returned to the family room.

"Grandma, do you want to play a game?"

"No thank you, dear, I am going to look around this house to see what this world offers us that the Enchanted Forest didn't."

"Well, if you find you need to go to the toilet or bathroom, let me know because I know for a fact that the Enchanted Forest didn't have what we use." Henry smiled before returning to play his game.

Maleficent wondered around the bottom floor of the mansion, noticing the various instruments she had never seen before. Opening cupboards, she noticed food, plates, cups, glasses, pots… all things that they had in the Enchanted Forest, in the frozen box she saw more food and drinks. She scanned the drinks and decided on a clear bottle that looked like it contained water. A while later, she found herself in Regina's study or library if the wall of books was anything to go by. Deciding to read a book, she came across one that was sitting atop Regina's desk.

"Once Upon a Time… hmmm… I guess this will do." The blonde sat down upon the sofa and stretched out her legs before she started to flick through the first couple of pages, noticing a portrait of a young brunette, smiling she quickly read some paragraphs before halting. "Even reading about Regina's life is ghastly and they call me Darkness." Shaking her head Mal flicked through some more pages. "I wonder who else has stories in here…wait is that...?"


	7. Chapter 7

The door to the master bedroom of the mansion slammed against the wall as the Dragon stormed through, her heart pounding in her chest like a drummer trying to keep the perfect beat. "Regina! Regina!" The woman screamed for her friend to wake up.

The two bodies on the bed groaned in disturbance to their peaceful slumber, Emma tightened her hold on Regina's waist and snuggled in closer against the brunette's back, while Regina pulled Emma's arm tighter around herself and continued sleeping. Henry came barging through the entranceway after flying up the stairs when he heard his mother's bedroom door meet the wall.

"Grandma, what's wrong?" He whispered noticing the frantic eyes and the already pale skinned blonde looking more washed out.

"You need to show me where Granny's Diner is." The woman demanded.

"Why? Are you hungry? Mum has leftovers in the fridge downstairs." The boy suggested.

"No! I need to go there now, Henry. Please take me there." Mal begged.

The boy looked over to his sleeping mothers and sighed. "Okay, let me wake up my moms and we can all go, I don't want to go without them after what happened earlier. Why don't you go downstairs and wait for us?"

"But I need to go now!" The Queen of Darkness's frustration was starting to swell within her chest.

"Grandma, why do you need to go so urgently?"

"There is someone I need to see there, it's very important."

"Then why don't you just poof there like you did when you collected me?"

"Oh." Mal paused. "I never thought of that… but, I don't want to go by myself for this." She blushed.

"Are you scared?" The boy asked with surprise.

"Normally, nothing scares me, but this person… I can't do that by myself, so I'm just gonna… REGINA WAKE THE HELL UP!" The blonde thundered waking both women from their slumber, the brunette instantly sitting up.

"What the fu…"

"If you finish that question in front of our son Miss Swan, you will soon regret it!" Regina threatened the woman lying beside her.

"Fudge… Regina… I was going to say fudge." Emma grinned lazily as her love rolled her eyes in humor.

"Of course, you were, dear," Regina replied before turning her head to the rude person that interrupted her nap. "Mal, why did you have to scream like that for?"

"You have to get up now, both of you. You're all taking me to Granny's Diner." Mal demanded before flicking her fingers to freshen up her family's appearance. "Now, let's go."

"What the hell, Mal? What's your rush?" Emma groaned.

"Just move along." Her mother ordered before walking out the door.

After what felt like an eternity to the older blonde, the family finally arrived at the diner. Henry opened the door for his parents and grandmother before following them inside. The Diner was as still as the night when they entered, no noise could be heard and no movement was made as all eyes rested on the family.

"Is there a problem?" Regina asked with a pointed eyebrow.

"Yeah sister, the problem is you and your family!" Grumpy the dwarf replied.

"Then I suggest you leave the premises if you do not wish to remain in our presence." The Mayor suggested to the dwarf and any other person that agreed with him.

"Now, now, Madam Mayor, be nice to your subjects." An old woman warmly teased Regina with a grin. "Why don't you lot go and sit in that booth and I'll send my unruly granddaughter over to serve you."

"Thank you, Eugenia," Regina replied while Emma nodded to the old woman better known to the town as Granny.

"How come she and Ruby were not with the mob today?" Emma asked Regina as they walked towards the booth, neither noticed Maleficent still standing just inside the door like a statue as she watched a leggy brunette wearing a pair of very short and shaggy looking kind of short pants bounce joyfully towards the booth. Her eyes watered at the beautiful woman, especially the telltale red streak of hair and her protruding eyes as she sniffed the air while looking at Emma.

"You remember me talking about my father, Daniel and my nursemaid?" Emma nodded.

"Regina's her family," Ruby replied solemnly. She had a great dislike of the Evil Queen, especially since her memories returned but Granny forbade her harming the woman. "Granny was her nursemaid as a kid."

"Yes, Eugenia is more of a mother to me than my own."

"That's good to know that she is still around for you." Ruby started to pour water for three people when Emma realized they were missing a person. "Mal, what are you doing over there?"

Walking over to the booth, inhaling deeply, Maleficent stood behind the waitress and indulged in the scent of the perfect blend of lavender, sandalwood and dragons' blood that drifted up to her nostrils. "Red…" She breathed, waiting patiently for a response.

A glass carafe shattered onto the linoleum floor as it fell out of the waitresses' loose grip attracting the attention of every patron. Turning swiftly round to the owner of the loving voice, one she thought she would never hear again, the brunette gasped at the shock.

"Mama?" She whispered as tears flooded her hazel globes. "Is it truly you?" She asked as her hand reached out hesitantly.

"My darling child, what happened to you and your mother? Where is Anita?" Maleficent cried as she pulled her eldest daughter into her arms. She couldn't believe the good karma she had received since Regina brought her out of the coldness of the cavern.

"Mama, I've missed you so much! I don't know where mom is, all I remember was the day we said goodbye to you as we went to check on the pack and then Snow White entered the cave followed by a division of the Evil Queen's army. I woke up shackled to a wall in Snow White's dungeon and her cursing and ranting in her very pregnant state about a storybook that said I was supposed to be her best friend and repeatedly insisted the book was a liar because I was a child of The Mistress of Evil, a monster. I don't know what happened to mom and she wouldn't tell me. I remained there until I came here." The little dragon wolf sobbed into her mother's chest. "How did you find me? I thought you were back in the forest because my new memories didn't recall seeing you here."

"A storybook at Regina's home, there was a story about you and your wolf that ended with your curse life." Tears flowed freely down the woman's cheeks, she missed her daughter and wife enormously.

Regina and Emma, along with every other patron could not believe their eyes at the scene before them, jaws hung low, eyes protruded from their sockets, some rendered speechless, while others smiled at the beautiful reunion. Henry was stunned that his book failed to mention the genetic connection between Red Riding Hood and Maleficent, there was no mention at all of Red Riding Hood being a dragon, only a wolf.

"What the hell is going on here? Red, what are you doing?" Granny rumbled from behind the diner counter.

"Granny!" Red smiled as she pulled her mother towards her grandmother. "This is my mother, Maleficent. You two had yet to meet each other before we were all separated."

"You're… you're… Mal? The protector of wolves is my daughter Anita's true love?" The old lady gasped, for decades Maleficent and Regina protected all wolves in the Enchanted Forest. "I must say that surprises me, I never thought the two would be the same person. Come here love, I'm very pleased to finally meet you."

"You also, Eugenia. Do you have any knowledge of Anita's whereabouts?"

"I'm sorry, dear. If not for Regina's curse I would not have Red with me. I have no idea how she managed to make that happen."

"Neither do I, considering I didn't know you had a child and was also pregnant when I stole the curse from you, Maleficent. Here, I thought we were dear old friends." The woman pouted.

"Oh, do pick your lip up Regina, I've told you before, the only thing on your mind was that damn curse and to seek your revenge. Obviously, the curse had filled in the gaps and sent Red to be with her grandmother as you had me locked up and Anita… Anita is…" The blonde's eyes glared as realization regarding the survival of her wife dawned upon her. "I'm going to kill her! She's dead! I am going to kill that damn bird-loving little mumpsimus, pharisaical bitch!" The dragon threatened as her heart started to break into a million pieces.

"Mama! Mama!" Ruby shouted. "She's not dead, Mama, she's not dead." The girl hugged her mother to calm her down. "Granny and I would feel it if she were dead, she's not dead, but she's not here either."

"Mal?" Emma asked as she came up beside her mother and the woman, she now knows is her older sister.

"I've got her Emma, she'll be fine." The long-haired brunette smiled towards the younger blonde, then quickly moved her head to look into her mother's eyes and whispered. "Mama? Is she… is she the baby? I can smell her." Her voice hitching with affection.

* * *

Meanwhile, down the street from the diner, the glass of a store door shattered as the door crashed into the wall. A princess and her prince marched to the counter in search of the store owner.

"Rumpelstiltskin, where the hell are you?" The princess barked.

"What can I do for you, dearie?" The old man limped through a black curtain that separated the back of the store to the front, his cane tapping the ground with every movement. "You must be excited to have the curse broken, you're cursed self was rather pathetic, if I may say so." The man cackled.

"Why does Emma believe she is that evil dragon's child?" The brunette questioned disparagingly.

"What price are you willing to pay for that answer, dear?" The Dark One asked.

The prince extracted his sword and tilted the tip towards Rumpel's throat. "You have no right to demand payment from the Queen. Now, give over the information or I will harm you." The younger man threatened.

Unfortunately, for Rumpel due to his lack of magic, there was nothing he could do but provide their answers unless he was willing to die, and no, the old man was not ready to visit the other side just yet. "It's rather tedious. You were never pregnant, Snow White, I manipulated you all." He sneered at the horrifying look of the brunette. "I placed a spell on you to believe you were pregnant and to make your belly grow, it was only by sheer luck that you touched the unicorn for it to show you that whom you believe to be your daughter would kill you. Obviously, that wasn't your daughter but it was Emma Swan."

"But… but I gave birth to her." Snow White gasped.

"Of course, you did, after you stole Maleficent's egg." He tried to move away from the tip of Charming's sword, but every movement he made, the sword followed. "I forced the Apprentice to magic the baby into your womb and replace the spell I had bestowed upon you. I knew Maleficent would have more than one child in her egg because she mated with a wolf. If Anita had birthed the child, there would only be one child as did happen with Red and that is due to Maleficent's bloodline, but Maleficent carried which increased the probability of multiple children. Anyhow, he transferred the essence of the baby into you and abracadabra, days later you gave birth."

"Why… why would you do such a thing?" Charming asked, the tip of his sword still held against the man's neck.

"I have my reasons and now I would like you both to leave as I have some unfinished business to attend to at the back of my store."

"How dare you, Rumpelstiltskin! How dare you ruin our lives and then dismiss us without an ounce of accountability to your actions." Snow White was furious, the rage inside her had escalated upon the man's words and the curl of her lip was the first sign of her rage before she quickly reached over, cupped Rumple's head between her hands and roughly pulled the old man's head closer to the tip of the sword, piercing the skin of the old man's throat, she tugged harder and the sword punctured through the to the back of his neck. "Fortunately, this is the land without magic which suggests you do not have your Dark One's power and can be killed, as a human. Your days of terrorizing and playing with people's lives have come to an end, oh Dark One." The heiress of the White Kingdom whispered calmly.

"You… wi…wi…ll re gggret th…is S…now White." The Dark One smirked. Unknown to Snow White, she was already too late.

Dismissing the dying words, the brunette woman moved towards her statue of a husband and pushed down on the hilt of the sword, carving down to Rumpel's chest before slicing to her right, directly through the old man's heart, once satisfied he was dead as his body slumped forward and collapsed atop the counter, she walked out of the store., she walked out of the store.

* * *

Maleficent smiled at her Red. "I waited for you and your mother to return and when you didn't, I started to worry, it brought on the birth earlier than expected but I thought I had surrounded myself with wards and spells to keep danger away. Unbeknown to me, word had reached Snow White's ears and I don't know how they did it but they broke through all of my wards and stole my egg. I was too weak to fight." While Maleficent had been speaking, Ruby moved her mother to sit down at the booth.

"So, Emma is my sister?"

"Yes. However, I believe I gave birth to twins that shared the one egg because the Apprentice had arrived at the cave before Regina cast the curse and informed me that my baby was in the land without magic and her name is Lily Paige." Maleficent looked up as she heard her blonde daughter catch her breath. "Are you okay, darling?"

"I know Lily, we were best friends when we were younger. She saved me from getting caught shoplifting but then I sent her away because she got me kicked out of my foster home. I'm so sorry, I didn't know." The younger woman cried.

"My love, how were you to know that she was your sister? It is not your fault." Regina soothed her partner and pecked the blonde on the lips before she felt hands on her arm.

Red pulled Regina out of the booth so she could examine her sister with excitement. "Oh my god, you look so much like our mothers, you have moms' eyes and mama's hair and looks." The brunette squealed in delight as she hugged her baby sister tight before relinquishing and turning in amazement. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh… I'm now an Aunty!" Henry looked terrified as the brunette barreled out of the booth and caught him up in a fierce hug. "I'm so happy that I am your aunt, Henry, I have always had a soft spot for you from the very first moment your mother brought you in here."

"Do I call you Aunt Red or Aunt Ruby?" The boy finally smiled towards the young brunette.

"Whatever you feel comfortable with, kid." Red chuckled before directing her gaze towards the adults and calmed down a little. "So, how do we find Lily and mom?" She asked.

"I can find Lily by using my contacts," Emma suggested, she was still digesting the fact of not only finding one of her parents and an elder sister but also that her childhood friend had been her twin. She should have known they had a connection through the colors of their eyes but they thought they were just a rare breed and there probably were many more in the world like them.

"Snow White will be the only person to know what happened to your mother, or maybe you do Regina, it was your army that entered the den." Maleficent snarled.

"No. You know that I would never sanction the harming of wolves, Mal, they were to be protected. I heard the rumors and spoke with my men, they all vowed it was not them and I believed them, I still do. I used their hearts to tell me the truth." Regina defended herself to her friend.

"Their hearts?" Emma asked.

"Emma, I was the Evil Queen, you read my story." Regina frowned.

"Ohhhhh that's right, my bad." Emma smiled as her girlfriend shook her head in dismay. "I forget because to me you're Queen Regina, my Queen." The blonde wiggled her eyebrows in jest.

"You're an idiot but I love you." The brunette chuckled before pecking Emma's lips.

"You're both idiots." Mal rolled her eyes before sighing. "Can we please get back to our discussion?"

"So…" Red's voice was akin to that of her wolf's low angry growl. "Snow White set up the entire affair." A grimace stretched across the wolf's mouth. "I'm going to kill her; I'm going to rip her throat out and kill her."

"First, we need to find out what happened to your mother. Now let's discuss how we will apprehend that wicked menace,"

Golden eyes consumed with rage as Red viciously growled, "I'm going to walk up to her, drag her by the hair back to Regina's mansion, then begin the tor…" Her sentence halted by the sudden gust of wind that whirled inside of the diner whipping every person in the vicinity until it calmed down revealing the figure of a stranger.


	8. Chapter 8

"Who on earth are you?" Regina gasped in surprise.

"So, the imp is dead?" The stranger questioned before releasing a sigh as they took in the people within the establishment. "Of all times to die, it had to be while I was entertaining." They muttered.

"What are you talking about?" The brunette asked. "And again, who are you?"

"Regina…" The stranger smiled. "I have waited so long for this moment."

"We need to go and see the imp," Maleficent advised. "Henry, stay with Granny and do not follow.  
The boy sighed and nodded his head. "Right, ladies hold on tight."

"You're not leaving without me, Maleficent!" The stranger growled as their fingers clasped onto the older blonde's arm. With a pointed eyebrow towards the newcomer, Maleficent flicked her fingers and the group disappeared.

"Wow… that was awesome, nauseating but awesome." Emma vocalized as she regained her balance, yet to notice the bloody scene.

"Charming!" Maleficent growled. "What have you done?" The man slowly turned towards the group, his face drained of color and his hands shaking as it still held the sword.

"David" Regina whispered as she discreetly rubbed her fingers to rid herself of the sudden feeling of pins and needles. "Who did this to Rumpel?"

The tall man turned back to the corpse, the upper body laying over the counter surrounded by puddles of red blood. "Snow… Snow killed him… She killed him without any remorse…"

"Snow White did this? Well, I am pleasantly surprised to know that the perfect White princess has a lot of darkness within her little biddy heart. She is going to enjoy what is in her imminent future." The newcomer chuckled.

Regina snapped her head to the stranger. "Who the hell are you?" Receiving a smile in response.

"Where is Snow?" Red asked.

"I don't know, she just walked out… I… I was too sho…shocked to move." The man stammered in response.

"Why did your wife kill him?" Regina demanded.

"Because he manipulated us." The man continued to retell the events of the night to the group, some gasped in surprise and others weren't surprised in the slightest when it came to the Dark One and his work.

"Well, that explains everything about me being a dragon." Emma shook her head in disbelief. "Why don't you go home and we will take care of this, however, I will be calling by to talk to you both later," Emma advised the man who nodded his head as he started moving towards the exit. "Oh, David. I will need the sword as it is evidence."

"Of course." He handed the Sherriff his sword before taking leave.

"Well, this is like an amazing turn of events." The newcomer rubbed their hands in delight. "We're in for a hell of a ride if Snow White is to become the Dark One."

"She is such a moronic fool, never thinking of the repercussions of her actions!" Regina grumped as she shook her head.

"What are you all talking about?" Emma asked.

Regina turned to look at her former mentors' body in disbelief, her mind was perplexed with Rumple's death. Yes, he deserved to die a painful death for all the lives he manipulated, hers included, but, as much as he drove her towards her darkness, he also guided her and she couldn't help but feel a little sympathy towards the man.

Maleficent flicked her hand around Rumpel's body before it disappeared and left no trace or evidence that a murder had occurred within the store. "I've sent him to your vault, Regina, I know you have one here somewhere." The Dragon informed the room before answering Emma. "By killing Rumpel, Snow White will now become the new Dark One.

"How's that possible? I thought Dark Ones can only die by their dagger, and it was not a dagger that killed him." Ruby inquired.

"The curse belonged to Rumpel, darling. When he created it, he made a failsafe that if he were to die whether there was magic or not, his Dark One's powers will continue to live on through his murderer. Although, I don't think Halfwit White knows that aspect of the curse." Maleficent informed her daughter.

"So, Snow White as the Dark One is something no one is wanting to deal with?" Emma asked.

"Correct. A spoilt, bratty and demanding princess, may be our worst nightmare, and how the hell are we going to get our magic back to deal with her?" Regina rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Why can't life just be easy for once?" She growled.

"We'll survive this, my Queen." Emma comforted her love, wrapping her arms around the brunette.

"Magic is already here, Regina, can you not feel it? The imp must have set things in motion before he was murdered." Maleficent informed the Queen.

"Right, that would explain the pins and needles., it's been so long; I forgot the feeling." Regina smiled as she opened her palm and a flicker of a flame came to life. "Well, that's rather pathetic." Regina scoffed.

"You just need to rest, Regina. Now, all we need to do is kill Snow White and for the three sisters to take on the Dark One's powers." The stranger informed the group.

"What are you even suggesting and what sisters?" Regina asked before pausing and looking directly into piercing blue eyes that reminded her of someone from her past. "And are you ever going to inform us of who the hell you are and how you got here?"

"I bring no ill will, your majesty. I have been sent here to ensure your safety and wellbeing, although, I am sure that may now be redundant." The stranger frowned as they looked at the family of dragons.

"That does not tell any of us who you are."

Maleficent, Emma and Red focused all their attention on the duo, noticing odd similarities between the two, yet still could not quite place what those similarities were. Maleficent thought it strange that the newcomer would show themselves on the death of the Dark One, and felt it was another path in Regina's fate that he was forcing her to take.

"We need to find your lost daughter as soon as possible because we will need her help." The stranger directed her advice towards Maleficent, dismissing Regina's question.

"You're right. We do need her." The Mistress of Evil replied.

"Hmmm… I want to find her, but don't you think Snow White turning into this so-called Dark One is more pressing?" Emma asked her mother.

"Darling, to commence your evolution into the Power of Three, we need your sister here. Without her, there is no Power of Three."

"And this is supposed to be some supreme power?" Emma frowned.

Sighing, the older blonde suggested everyone return to the mansion, and discuss what she needs to share with everyone in comfort.

"I believe that is your directive to leave us be," Regina told the stranger.

But Maleficent had other ideas. "Regina, I prefer everyone to return to the mansion."

"What? Mal, we don't even know who this person is, they may cause us harm!" The brunette was beside herself, how could Mal want to keep company with someone who refused to share their name?

"Regina." The older woman sighed as she looked into her friend's eyes, silently asking her friend to trust her. It took more than a few moments before the brunette muttered something quietly to herself and then nodded her head.

"Red, we have another guest room if you wish to stay close to your mother and sister." Regina offered and smiled when she received a hug from Red.

"I'd love that, thank you, Regina." Her former hatred towards the brunette receded the instant the revelation of Snow White's murderous vendetta on her wolf pack came to light.

"You're welcome. We will meet you all at home as we need to make a stop and collect Henry."

"I will accompany you both. Why not allow me to transport us all?" The stranger offered.

Before Regina could decline, a cloud of emerald green smoke engulfed her sight.

"You're the… you're the Wicked Witch!" Regina gasped when they arrived at the now empty diner. She pulled Emma behind her and confronted the redhead woman before her.

"Yes." The witch sighed. "That would be correct, what gave it away? Was it my hair? My divine and pleasing personality? Oh no, wait… it was my beautiful gown wasn't it?" She chuckled as she patted down said gown.

Rolling her eyes, Regina replied. "It was the color of your smoke, emerald green. You're the only witch I have heard stories of with that color of smoke."

"Ohhhh… my fame reached the Enchanted Forest? How delightful!" The redhead beamed.

"What are you doing here?" Regina was over the niceties.

"Rumpel was my former mentor." The redhead waited for a reaction from the brunette but nothing changed in the woman's demeanor. "While he was teaching you, he was also teaching me." Again, she waited for a reaction, and only hard eyes returned her gaze. "He promised me, that if he ever were to die, only then could I finally meet you." Still no response. "I don't think he thought he would die, yet, his arrogance and ignorance are what got him murdered, by Snow White of all people."

"That does not explain your presence, or why you wanted to meet me."

"Regina, why don't we collect your son and then I will transport us to your home as your magic is still reenergizing after Mal shares her story, if you wish, I will tell you mine." The Wicked Witch offered.

"Come on, Regina. She is not going to hurt us and Mal and Ruby will be waiting on us." Emma concurred.

"Okay, but I am warning you." Regina directed her gaze to hold the bright blue eyes of the witch. "If you ever think of harming myself or my family, I will end you and ensure no one remembers your existence."

"Wow, so feisty, I love it." The redhead laughed.

"And how the hell do you know where to transport us? You've never been to my home."

"Why don't we discuss that, later. Now, go and fetch your son."

After explaining to Henry a PG13 version of the death of his grandfather, Regina and Emma read him a story as he drifted off to sleep, each kissing his temple, they departed the room and returned to join the women gathered in Regina's study, all enjoying a deserving glass of Regina's apple cider. Seated around the room, everyone waited patiently for Maleficent to begin.

"So, this is going to be a rather lengthy discussion but a needed one. Firstly, Red, what is your given name?"

"Hekate." The brunette rolled her eyes at the ancient name. "But I prefer Red." She deadpanned as she looked at a smirking Emma.

"Right, do any of you know who Hekate is or was?" The dragon mother questioned, frowning at her blonde daughter.

"She is the Divine Mother of all witches and Goddess of Magic," Regina replied.

"And the original owner of the Holy Grail, which is supposedly the beginning of all magic." The Wicked Witch added.

"Exactly, and Red is named for her as Hekate's eldest descendant of her generation. Merlin used the Flame of Prometheus to reforge the Holy Grail into what we know as Excalibur. The original Dark One, Nimue, smashed Excalibur severing the blade's tip, so, Merlin fashioned the tip into a dagger and bound the Dark One to its control." Taking in the astonishing looks, Maleficent continued. "Emma, is Lily a brunette?" Emma nodded. "I had two names that were foretold to me, I assumed that I had a choice dependent on the appearance of my baby, as it turns out, I needed the two names. Lily's name would have been Nyx."

"The Goddess of Night?" Emma asked in surprise. "She loved Greek mythology but never in her wildest dreams did she believe that the legends would be any more than that, although, as she now thought to herself… she was currently sitting with the Evil Queen, Maleficent, Red Riding Hood and the Wicked Witch of the West. She shook her head in amusement before responding to her mother's next question.

"Yes. Does Lily have a crescent moon for a birthmark?"

"Yes, she does." This was fascinating to the older blonde as the crescent moon was a symbol representing her ancestress.

"Are you a descendant of the Mother of Death & Doom?" The Wicked Witch posed the question to the Dragon.

"I am." The older blonde smiled. "A direct descendant of Nyx & Erebus, the God of Darkness."

"Wow." Ruby was lost for words listening to every word her mother spoke; who the hell would have thought that her bloodline originates from the protogenoi of darkness?

"So, what would my name have been?"

"Well you, my little blonde love, your name is Aither, the Goddess of Light, you bring balance to your sisters, when Snow White transferred the darkness from Lily into you, she didn't know that you would be essentially looking after it for your sister."

"Wow, I should call you Bo." Red teased her sister, who chuckled.

"Witches can do that? She won't combust and go on a murderous rampage or run happily into the forest singing to the birds?" Regina questioned quickly.

"Emma can, and no she won't. We could probably compare her to a succubus, but she doesn't need to open her mouth to suck in the darkness or the light, she just needs to touch a person and imagine the process, whether she's extracting or injecting. She is also her sister's moral compass to act accordingly, and her sisters may need that at times."

"This contradicts nearly everything we know of magic!" Regina gasped. "Evil versus Good, what about their hearts? Black heart, black magic equates to evil, bright red heart, white magic, corresponds to good and heroic, what color are their hearts? Half black, half white?" How could life be any more unfair? She's worked hard over the years to try and turn her black heart red, but sitting here beside her were witches who are so powerful that a flick of the finger and they go from evil to good. She had to admit, she was kind of jealous of Emma and her sisters.

"Their hearts are red and protected by true love, mine and Anita's true love protects their hearts, well, our love protected Emma's until you two kissed, now your love for each other protects your hearts and your sons. Everyone's hearts will continue to beat red, true love is very powerful in regards to protection.

"All three girls have dark magic, its purest form and they all possess white magic also but you are the only one that can let's say, regulate the levels of darkness and light magic." Mal smiled at her daughter before acknowledging the rest of the room. "There is only one group that is equal in power as you three, but there has been no word of them for centuries, nearly as long as the last Power of Three." Maleficent allowed her mind to wander as she glanced towards Regina and the newcomer to their group, quietly contemplating some surprising thoughts.

"You're referring to The Lilitu." The redhead Witch spoke.

The word 'interesting' flew through Maleficent's mind before she replied. "Yes, I am and not many today know of their existence."

"Well, I've been around." The redhead shrugged.

"Hmmm…" Maleficent noticed the quick flick of Regina's head and an obvious glare towards The Wicked Witch, her demeanor overflowing with suspicion, wariness, and mistrust. "Anyway, although The Lilitu is equal in power, the girls are the only ones that can end the Dark One's powers because it is indisputably theirs."

"Don't you think you're forgetting something? Excalibur is like… in Camelot with King Arthur who pulled it out of a stone or something, right?" Emma knew the story of King Arthur, who doesn't?

"Emma, white magic is needed to defeat either instrument, once one has been destroyed then so too will the other," Maleficent informed her daughter.

"Oh darn, and here I was hoping it meant we would have to go to Camelot." Emma smiled at Regina, who rolled her eyes in response and returned the smile.

"Ma… are you telling us that my sisters and I are three sexy, badass bitches?" Red smirked smugly.

"Darling, where did you learn such horrible language?" The blonde mother glowered.

"Hey, when you've been in this land for 28 years, it's kind of hard not to learn the language of the world." Red smiled.

Regina frowned as she observed the mother and daughter interaction. "Mal, how did I not know about Red and Anita when Red would have been an adult at the time of the curse?"

"The only time I would host was when my family was away checking on their pack or spending time with Eugenia. I didn't want anyone to know about them as I wanted to keep them safe. If word got out that I had a family, people may have sought revenge by hurting them. I'm sorry Regina, but you were very dark, I am the Queen of Darkness but I think even you beat me to that title sometimes, if I didn't know better, I would think you were a descendant of Lilith." She watched with interest and smiled at the flicker of reaction she received.

Sighing, the former Evil Queen turned to her friend and hugged her. "I understand your reasons, I sacrificed and killed my father for the curse, and if need be, I probably would have hurt your family. I'm so sorry, Mal, I was never there for you when you needed me. I hope one day, you will forgive me."

"I've already forgiven you, darling, you have returned my family to me; we are family now." The older woman smiled.

"Okay, well…" Emma sighed, she was extremely tired and could barely keep her eyes open. "I will get in touch with my contacts regarding Lily in the morning, and as much as all these happy moments are, I am really beat and would love to go to sleep," Emma begged.

"You all may go to bed if you wish." Regina smiled at Emma before turning towards the redhead witch. "But you and I have some unfinished business to discuss."

"No, Regina." Emma deadpanned. "That can wait until morning, it has been a tiring day. I've been attacked, met my mother, kissed my true love, broke a curse, stopped a mob, may have killed a man, nearly transformed into a dragon, met my sister, found out my childhood friend was my twin, a man was murdered, been informed that I am some supernatural magic weaver and now I have been told that I need to kill someone, so no, you are coming to bed with me." She stood up to hold her hand out to a frowning brunette. "Come, my love."

Regina was shocked to be spoken to in such a demanding tone that she had a harsh response to throw at Emma until she raised her eyes to meet hazel globes and sighed. Emma was correct after everything the woman had been through today, by her side is where she belonged. "Okay, darling." She smiled and ignored the amused faces of Maleficent and Red at the un-Regina-like surrender. She stood to capture Emma's hand and turned. "Red, your room is to the right of your mother's and… what is your name?" Regina asked the redhead.

"Zelena."

"Zelena, your room is next to Red's, there is a shared bathroom between your rooms, Red can show you how to use everything, is that okay?"

"That's cool, Regina, I'll show her everything, you two sleep well," Red replied as she hugged her sister and sister in law.

"Goodnight Darlings." Maleficent hugged the couple and Red before she retreated to her bedroom, she had some thinking to do.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Aloha kakou! Hi Everyone! Thank you all for continuing on this journey with me. The comments, the kudos, they all keep me motivated to keep writing. Moving forward, I have decided that I will only update once a week (Wednesdays) as my wife is starting to grumble about spending too much time on the laptop lol.**_

_**Also, I would like to take a moment to mention QueenLana15 for generously offering her assistance to be a Beta for my story. Thank you for your guidance, your patience and especially your time to ensure I have this chapter ready for today. I am truly indebted to you :) **_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

Darkness surrounded her like a solid ominous cloud heavy with a malevolent presence. Thick black tar seeped through every pore to supersede everything in its wake. A distinctive cackle penetrated the murky hollow in response to a petrified brunette screaming in the silence. There was a hunger growing within her. A hunger so new, so strong, and like no other she had yearned before; it needed to be fed, an improbable likelihood in her current state. She dropped her body to the ground and curled into a tight ball as the absence of light continued to envelop her. Her mind was immersed in waves of darkness; not a flicker of a thought in sight.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up." He cackled gleefully as he looked down at the dark figure. "Wake up, wake up, Snow Black … hmmm no that doesn't sound quite right." He tapped his forefinger against his chin for a minute before smiling broadly. "Wake up, wake up, wake up, Dark Snow." He laughed loudly as he watched the body move slowly. "I know you can hear me, dearie. It's time to open your eyes and accept your fate. Hehehehehehe."

"I thought you were dead." A quiet voice mumbled.

"I am, dearie, thanks to you! I never would have thought it would be Snow White to murder me. I'm slightly disgusted with myself." The crocodile skinned man walked slowly around the woman's body as if she were his prey. "Can you feel it? Can you feel the hunger, Dark Snow?"

"Get away from me. I don't want you here." The woman growled as she pulled her limbs closer to her chest.

Rumpelstiltskin cackled loudly at the pathetic demand. "As long as you are alive, dearie, I will always be here." He smirked before disappearing and then reappearing a couple of meters away. "Or here." He disappeared and reappeared in another spot. "Or here" he cackled, he continued to torment her by reappearing in different areas that surrounded them, but always close enough for her to hear him speak until he finally returned to her side. "You chose this path, dearie. I am your future and I will find you. I will always find you." He chortled at his utterance of the Charming couple's renowned quote.

"No!" The brunette finally sat up. "You are evil and I don't belong here, I should be at home with my husband." The woman sobbed.

"Fortunately for you, you decided to kill me, leaving you just as evil as I am." The man seethed. "Now, don't you think you should stop wasting time, dearie. You're the new Dark One and people will be coming for you." He cackled again.

"There was no magic. How could I have become the Dark One?"

"You should've known to never underestimate me, dearie."

Dark Snow finally stood up, her breath hitching when she saw that her attire was entirely black leather, tight pants, corset, a high collared leather jacket that hugged her body, and black ankle boots complimented the outfit. "What is this travesty that I am wearing?"

"Come now, you're the Dark One. You cannot be gallivanting around in your white princess dresses."

"This is your fault! You did this! You made me this way!" Snow screamed as thoughts of murder haunted her mind once again.

The man cackled. "I am many things but I am only the voice in your head. The Dark One's powers are inside you. Rumpelstiltskin is one of many, perhaps I can be another … how about Gorgon "The Invincible"?" The man suggested as he transformed into a giant boar that breathed fire.

"No! Stop!"

"Yes, probably easier this way," Rumpel replied as he transformed back. "Now, are you ready to begin?"

"Begin what?"

"Well, willing to be the Dark One, of course! Think of me as your guide but only 'til you've learned to embrace your powers."

"I will never embrace the darkness!"

"Oh, stop lying to yourself. You've already exceeded your entry into the darkness, dearie. The only way to stop is to be stopped but we all know you enjoyed the taste, and you'll want more."

"I will not!" Snow denied as she stormed away.

* * *

"So, what's your deal?" The brunette asked the redhead as they climbed up the stairs.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, you don't seem like a fool. What's your deal with Regina?"

The duo arrived at the landing, Red looked to the left and saw Henry's bedroom, took note of the closed door to the right and assumed it to be her mother's as she spied two open doors a little way beyond.

"Well, as I told Regina, Rumpel promised me I could meet her only when he died."

"Why did you want to meet her?"

Zelena and Red had stopped outside of the first empty room they came upon, whispering as if they were thieves in the night. Zelena watched as Red gestured with a wave of her arm to move into the room. Talking to the woman was the last thing she wanted to do but knew that the dragon wolf would not allow her to leave without ensuring she was not a threat to the family. Sighing, she walked into the room and sat on the bed.

"If I tell you, you cannot tell Regina. I wanted to speak with her first."

"Your story will be safe with me." Red smiled.

* * *

It was mid-morning by the time she had woken, basking in the strips of light that peeked through the blinds. Reaching out, she opened her palm and watched as a bright flame formed, smiling in satisfaction, her magic had returned completely after a good night's rest. Until this moment, she had never realized how much she had missed the safety her magic provided. The days ahead were sure to be demanding on her family and they needed every ounce of magic they could possess. Turning towards the body that had their arms wrapped tightly around her waist, a smile graced her lips. This woman loved her; loved her with the knowledge of her past.

"Good morning, my queen." The blonde smiled at the woman in her arms.

"Morning. Did you sleep well?"

"I did."

"How are you feeling after everything you learned yesterday?"

"So, it wasn't a dream?" The blonde closed her eyes for a moment.

"Darling, if it were a dream, would you be waking up beside me?"

"Well, everything prior to the mob feels real to me. You know, Graham's attack, our kissing, learning of my mother… those feel real. But everything else… it seems so farfetched that my mind is still trying to process everything." The blonde explained to the brunette still in her arms.

"What are your thoughts about having Red as a sister?"

Emma smiled. "I had always wanted siblings. Lily and I were close. And I regretted my words the moment I walked away from her, but I was too proud to turn around and say sorry. When I was younger, she was the only person that I felt close to; close enough to wish we were siblings. Now, it turns out, we truly are siblings, and to know that Red is our elder sister, well, I've liked Red since the first time we met."

"That's lovely, darling, and Lily will be here soon. Once we find her, we will bring her home."

"I love you, Regina. Thank you for being patient with me and loving me."

"Always Emma, I will always love you," Regina replied as she leaned up to kiss the pink lips of her love. She spoke only the truth, her love for Emma had blossomed rapidly, but it ran deep and she had truly never loved another as she did the woman before her. Not even her love for Daniel could compare.

Emma pulled the woman gently to lie atop her body, her hands sliding down to the brunette's hips, gently caressing the exposed skin under her palms, her breathing hitched as Regina ground down against her burning center evoking a gush of wetness between her thighs. Their lips stayed clasped together as tongues tangled, fighting for dominance, Regina's fingers twirled around blonde tresses as her tongue fought with success, again she ground down onto Emma.

"Emma …" She moaned when she pulled away to breathe. "I nee …" She growled with frustration as her ears heard the unmistakable knock, knock, knock, knock, knock against the bedroom door.

"Moms! Aunt Red said to wake you and tell you that breakfast is getting cold." Both women sighed together as their foreheads met. "Moms? Can you hear me? Should I come in?"

"No!" Both women screamed before rushing out of bed and throwing gowns over their pajamas.

"Okay, well hurry up. I'll wait for you both out here."

"What the hell, Regina?" The blonde grumped. "I'm so freaking horny. I don't want to go down there."

The brunette laughed. "I'm sorry, my love. But if we don't go out there shortly, our son is going to come in here. And if I lock the door, he will demand to know why we are taking so long and start whining like his blonde mother." She chuckled.

"You suck," Emma deadpanned.

The brunette leaned into Emma, lowering the husky tone of her voice and whispered. "Oh darling, you are yet to experience my sucking." As she opened the door and greeted their son, she heard Emma's frustrated growl behind her and laughed with happiness.

Breakfast was a cheery affair; laughter and conversation reminded the family to enjoy the gift of the present and reassign the darkness of the night before to the last filing cabinet in their minds. Slight tension was felt when Zelena entered the room, but Regina filed her questions away for later to maintain the calming atmosphere in the room. Everyone sat sharing stories and getting to know each other; each subject kept light and, in most cases, humorous. By the end of the meal, cheeks were sore, eyes were red and bonds were tightened. It was after cleaning up that Emma suggested she start making phone calls to her contacts in the hopes that one may be able to assist their search for Lily. A gleam of hope sparkled in Maleficent's eyes, a large smile beamed from Ruby, and a red hue colored Zelena's cheeks as she caught Regina's frowning form staring at her. The moment of elation had come to an end.

As Emma headed to the office, Henry sat on a barstool and informed everyone that a new story had appeared in his storybook. He had woken early and decided to see if anything had changed like the story of Maleficent's egg.

"What did you find?" Ruby asked.

"Aunt Red, would you and Grandma like to go for a walk? I think mom and Zelena need to talk." He asked the two women.

"That sounds lovely, darling." His grandmother replied. "Let's get our coats." She suggested and waited for Henry to pass by her. "Red, are you coming?" Noticing her daughter's stare towards the redhead.

"Ah…" She replied.

"I'll be fine, Red. Thank you." Zelena advised the younger woman before sitting on the bar stool that Henry vacated. Not yet wanting to confront the brunette, she glanced down at her new clothing attire. The previous night, Red had suggested she change into more modern wear and used her phone to show Zelena a vast amount of clothing from a website, then told the woman to produce articles that were to her liking. The Wicked Witch conjured a pair of emerald green silk pajamas to sleep in and an emerald green sheath dress with a black belt, black blazer, sheer black pantyhose, and a pair of black heels. The outfit made her feel amazing and powerful.

Regina stood opposite Zelena as she waited to hear the closing of the front door. Henry's request to leave left her feeling a little apprehensive on the discussion about to take place, but he obviously thought it safe to leave her in the Wicked Witch's presence. As she waited for the redhead to raise her head, she took in the woman's form and couldn't quite place the familiarity she had felt since the woman appeared in the diner.

"Now Regina, what do you wish to know?"

"The truth."

"Of course, what truth do you request?"

"Who are you?"

"I am the Wicked Witch of the West; we have already established that."

"No, who are you and why are you here?"

"I am here to protect you."

"I don't need your protection. You may take your leave." The brunette replied with a hint of a growl, this woman was damn frustrating.

"Ask your question, Regina."

"Why are you not green?"

Zelena sighed. "Because I have no reason to be envious here. Ask your question, Regina."

"Why did you want to meet me?"

"Now we're getting somewhere." The redhead grinned. "I was abandoned as a baby, similar to your blonde bombshell. The difference though is that I was adopted and had a beautiful and loving mother for at least part of my life. But that is neither here nor there, right now." She stopped for a moment as she watched Regina make them both a cup of coffee before continuing. "When I was nine, I met my birth mother. She came to find me to return home so that I could help my sister who was very sick." Zelena heard Regina drop a teaspoon loudly into the sink. "I had magic, and my sister did a spell that backfired on her. The only person that could help was a close magical relative who had never harmed her. Of course, I had never harmed her, because neither of us had ever met!" The redhead's voice held a trace of anger in her last sentence.

"Did you save your sister?" Regina answered as she returned to her side of the bar, glancing hesitantly towards piercing blue eyes before turning to gaze at her coffee.

"I did and we became close but our mother forbade our relationship. She shipped me back to where I came from and attempted to wipe my memories of my sister and our relationship. Thankfully, she was unsuccessful."

"What about your sister?"

"I believe our mother was successful in erasing her memories."

They sat there for a moment, the brunette staring down into her coffee while the redhead watched her sister contemplate the story she shared.

"This still does not tell me why you wanted to meet me." Regina's head was still lowered.

"Regina, it tells you everything." Zelena countered before she heard a sob erupt from across the bar. She quickly ran around to the brunette's side, wanting to wrap her arms around her.

"Your… your… my…."

"What the hell is going on here?" Emma bellowed as she saw her girlfriend crying. "Get away from her, before I decimate you!" Eyes glowed a dark yellow as the blonde stormed towards the duo.

"Darling," Regina began to explain as she wiped at her tears.

"I said get away from her!" A thunderous roar echoed throughout the room warning the redhead to quickly move or be murdered. Wide-eyed in surprise, Zelena transported herself to the diner to escape the enraged blonde, bringing Emma to a standstill.

"Emma!" Regina sighed. "Why are you angry?"

"What the hell do you mean? You were crying and she was beside you!"

"She told me why she's here and why she wanted to meet me. I cried because… because…" Regina's tears returned to trickle down her cheeks, "she's my sister." The brunette sobbed into Emma's chest as she felt strong arms engulf her. "She's my sister. I always wanted an older sister to protect me."

"Is she telling the truth?"

"Yes. As soon as she started talking about how her birth mother … everything I had noticed about her that felt familiar fell into place. She looks like our mother."

"I'm sorry, Regina. I saw you crying and instantly thought she had done something." Emma apologized before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a clean handkerchief to wipe Regina's tears. "Maybe we should go and find her so I can apologize and you can spend time with your sister."

"That sounds like a lovely idea, darling." Regina smiled up at Emma before placing a soft kiss on the woman's lips. "Hold tight my love." She warned before twirling a finger in the air and the couple vanished.

The diner was rambunctious for only mid-morning. Many of the patrons sat awestruck as they heard the Evil Queen giggle and the Queen of Darkness shrieking with laughter as they listened to the redhead who everyone now knew as The Wicked Witch of the West. Zelena had been describing her reaction to Emma's earlier demeanor to finding Regina crying. As for the blonde, her pale skin was flushed with embarrassment as she sat quietly but, on the inside, she was overflowing with love and happiness as she watched the sparkle in Regina's eyes every time she laughed and her mother sitting relaxed, free and open.

"I'm the Wicked Witch of the West and there I was scared shitless. I have never been so scared in my life."

"I'm sorry, Zelena, my only thought was protecting your sister."

"I know and when I think of something you can repay me with, I will let you know." Zelena grinned as her eyes flicked away from Emma to the curviest derriere that blessed her eyesight. She sat there unconsciously nibbling on her lower lip, unaware of Emma's smile as the blonde traced Zelena's focus to her sister.

"Darling, how did your calls go with your contacts?"

"They were great, Mal. I should hear back from them sometime over the next few days."

"Fabulous, darling. I'm so excited."

The ladies continued to converse. Ruby brought them food and refilled their drinks. The diner had turned into their hangout and not one patron interrupted or questioned them. A long time passed before the door to the diner slammed open and a screaming man stomped his way towards their booth.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Aloha everyone :) Here's another chapter for you all, there's no cliffhanger to keep you hanging until next week LoL. Once again, thank you all for the kudos and the comments. BIG UPS to my Beta, QueenLana15 for all your assistance to better my writing skills. Thank you, thank you, thank you._**

Worried was the least of his feelings as he barged through the door of the diner. Prince Charming, or better known as David Nolan in this cursed world, was scared. Scared for his wife, scared for his life, scared for anyone that may come into contact with his wife. He knew why he woke in the middle of the night to the sounds of screaming and why, when he sat up alone in their bed, his wife was absent from their apartment. He was not as mindless and pathetic as people believed him to be; he knew his place and his place was always behind his wife. She ruled their relationship, he would always be a simple shepherd but, he loved his wife. Of course, she was his true love.

As he stormed towards the booth of women, he knew he had a hard task ahead of him. Death was the only manner a person could escape the life as the Dark One, however, if there were any possibilities that didn't lead to death, the Evil Queen and the Queen of Darkness would know. Whether they would agree to help him, that question begged to be answered.

"Charming, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Maleficent asked after Emma and Ruby blocked his path to their booth.

"I need to speak with you all," David replied with a tilt of his head to glance past Emma and seek out Maleficent.

"I don't believe we have anything to discuss," Regina interrupted.

"Please. Snow has disappeared and I know what she has become, but I want to know if there is any possibility that she can be saved without dying."

"You already know the answer to your question." Maleficent scoffed. "Next time you see your wife, it would be wise to say your farewells."

"No!" Charming growled. "I will not accept that. We are Snow White and Prince Charming.  
There has to be another way. There is always another way."

"The faster you accept that there isn't the easier it will be to let her go," Maleficent smirked. Finally, she thought … finally, they are going to get what they deserve.

"What are you planning to do?" David asked suspiciously as he noticed the small smile Maleficent expressed.

"We will be correcting what Merlin and Nimue created. The Dark One's powers will soon cease to exist."

The blonde man frowned. "Please, Regina. She was your stepdaughter, once upon a time you loved her. Please, you need to help her." He begged.

Regina directed her gaze towards the broken man. Once so long ago, she did love Snow White … but time and actions had changed those feelings. Although little did the man know, she did have a soft spot for him. Every time they met and fought, she could see the conflict in his eyes, he would always be a shepherd leading his flock behind the orders of his wife.

"I am not making any promises, Charming. If I find a way to save your wife, then I will." She heard Maleficent gasp before she continued. "However, if I don't then I'm sorry. But I do warn you, if she attacks any member of my family while she is the Dark One, I will not hesitate to murder her myself."

"Thank you, Regina. Thank you, that's all I ask." The man bowed his head to the Evil Queen before he retreated through the doors of the diner.

"I don't know what the hell that was, Regina … but … what the hell was that?" Maleficent thundered as her two daughters squeezed together beside Regina in the booth.

"Calm down, Mal. It's not like there is a way to keep Snow alive." She replied to the blonde woman, only to see Mal's eyes flicker with apprehension. "Don't tell me, there is a way to save her?" She blanched.

"Yes, sis," Zelena spoke up. "But only The Lilitu is capable of saving Snow White."

"Well, it's not like we're going to see them anytime soon." Mal rejected.

"Actually, Lilitu is one person." Zelena corrected and noticed the shift of Maleficent's surprised eyes directed towards her. "But as I was saying, the Lilitu is the only person that can literally breathe life into another without venturing to the Hell of Hades."

"Gawd, it's one supreme witch after another in this world of fantasy." Emma sighed. "Do you lot not know how to live a simple life?"

"Maybe one day, darling." Regina smiled before pecking Emma's lips. "Anyway, we should get going. Henry has been with his friends a few hours now and is due home shortly."

"Sounds like a great idea," Zelena concurred.

"I'm just going to talk to Granny and ask her over for dinner, is that okay?" Emma asked Regina. "I would like to get to know her too."

"Of course, darling. I'll wait for you then we can leave."

* * *

Insanity, that's what this was. The insanity of allowing a ghost of a man she murdered to torment her mind. The insanity of dark voices haunting her every second, every hour of the day. The insanity of returning to a land she was ripped away from. The insanity of being consumed by the hunger to kill. The insanity of seeking power to reign supreme. The insanity of Snow White being the Dark One. Insanity, that's what this was.

"You there, how do I get to the White Kingdom?"

"That advice will cost you a piece of gold." The pauper replied as he eyed the woman.

The woman snarled before replying. "Do you not know who I am?"

"Do I care?" The man laughed. "If you want to know how to get to the White Kingdom then you best pay me what is …" Sounds of choking erupted from the man as his face exhibited the terror he felt.

She walked up to the now blue-faced man. "I am Snow White, you imbecile." The sound of a taunting cackle that escaped her throat shocked Dark Snow back to reality. She relaxed her fist and watched as the man fell to the ground, caught his breath and fled.

"I do wish you had finished him." A familiar chuckle was heard. "But I do concede, there is no joy in killing a nobody. It's those with power like Maleficent or The Evil Queen who will quench that thirst you're feeling."

"Leave me be; I do not wish for you to be here." The woman screamed.

"But, dearie, I'm only here to help you. I can tell you how to reach the White Kingdom, and you won't need to owe me a favor."

"I don't need your help. You will only trick me into using magic and then laugh while I succumb to the darkness."

"You don't need my help to succeed in that endeavor. We both know how you react when you don't get your own way, dearie. It's just a matter of time."

"Leave … me … alone …!" Dark Snow whispered.

Minutes passed by as she stood alone among the trees. The silence of the forest offered her a moment of solitude from the various thoughts eating away at her mind. Thoughts that taunted her to relinquish to the darkness, the most powerful autonomy to ever live. To kill anyone who dared disobey her, to seek revenge against those who had wronged her. Only then would she live happily with her husband.

"You're lying!" She screamed at the trees that surrounded her. Disorientated, her legs wobbled and her arms twitched. Her frantic eyes stared up to the heavens as she silently begged for mercy. She dropped to her knees. Her shoulders sagged in defeat. "Please …". She begged. "I don't know how much longer I can survive this."

A smiling silhouette stood hidden behind a tree. It wouldn't be long now, he thought as he watched the Queen of the White Kingdom sob in despair.

* * *

"Henry, dear. I think it's time we had a discussion regarding your dragon. I want to make sure that you know what to expect and how you feel about everything."

Henry looked around the dining table to his family, each one nodding their head to his mother's words. He had already spent time processing everything and had accepted the change of his body.

"Well, I know I can turn into a dragon, having partially turned already. It wasn't painful, it just felt … natural. And I would easily call upon my dragon if someone tries to hurt you again, mom. Any of you that are sitting here. I'm not scared to turn." The boy paused before he looked at his grandmother with a sparkle of excitement in his hazel eyes. "Grandma, can I turn into a wolf too, like Aunt Red?"

"No." Maleficent smiled at the boy's pout. "Your Aunt Red can turn into a wolf because your grandmother Anita carried her, but she cannot turn into a dragon. Your mother and Aunt Lily can only turn into a dragon. However, they all possess traits of the other. Your mother and Aunt Lily have the strength of the wolf, in both wolf and human form and they also have the ability to track anything. Your Aunt Red can breathe fire, and fire cannot harm her."

"Wow, you're like a mystic super wolf woman," Henry whispered to his aunt in awe. She laughed in response.

"Hey, what about me? I can do that stuff too!" His blonde mother pouted as she feigned jealousy.

"I thought grandma was some supped up super villain, but you guys are like … wow." The boy ignored his blonde mother as he continued to look adoringly at his aunt.

"She is wow, isn't she Henry?" Zelena agreed

"It's alright, darling," Regina whispered in her lover's ear. "You have me."

"Mmmm…" Emma moaned as she pulled Regina closer to her. "I win by a long shot." She grinned before planting a kiss on plump red lips.

"Do you have any more questions, Henry?" His grandmother asked.

"Not really, grandma."

"You know, Henry, I can teach you how to use a crossbow. I'm rather good at that." His great grandmother offered.

"I'd love that, Granny. Mom, will that be okay?"

"What's that, my prince?" Distracted a little by the blonde at her side, Regina had missed the conversation.

"Granny said she can teach me how to use a crossbow. May I?"

"I'm not sure, that's kind of dangerous, Henry."

"Mom, I am a dragon." The boy whined.

"Give me time to think about it. And while we're still talking about your dragon, we need to discuss your anger. I think you should start talking to Archie about your outbursts. What do you think?"

"Why can't I just speak with you or Ma?"

"I can help him, Regina. Let me do that." Emma offered.

"Are you sure, darling?"

"Yes. I will teach him tai chi; it has helped me a lot. And, we can start tomorrow, kid."

"Okay, Ma." The young boy smiled as he noticed his blonde mother's smile grow in size and her eyes watered. He had been calling her Emma since the day they met, albeit the few times he would refer to both of his mother's as 'Moms' when they were together. He watched as his Ma stood, approached his seat, then bend to wrap her arms around him.

"I love you, kid." She whispered.

"I love you too, Ma."

Henry sat with his family for another hour before his mother's walked him up to his room to read a story and bid him goodnight.

"Right, now let's get down to business." Zelena opened to the room as Regina and Emma returned. "We know that Snow White has been taken and need to prepare for her return."

"If she hasn't turned now, she probably will soon." Red agreed.

"Dear, do you know where the Dark One's dagger is?" Maleficent asked Regina.

"Knowing the imp, it is probably hidden and if I'm not mistaken, it will be in plain sight. He believed people are similar to sleepwalkers and oblivious to the obvious; pays no attention to what is in front of them."

"He's not far wrong." Granny concurred as she flittered her eyes to Red and Zelena. "Will it be in his store?"

"Possibly, with all that junk he has sitting around. It will probably be hidden as one of the objects. Maybe we should go and check it." Regina suggested.

"Why don't we do that now while it is still a little early? Granny, will you mind keeping an eye on Henry? Zelena and Red can stay to keep you company." Emma asked her grandmother.

"Take them, I don't want to be tortured by watching that." She shook her head as her hand flicked towards the two-giggling woman. "I'm going to watch a bit of Legacies on Netflix."

Emma laughed. "I would think your reality was more exciting than a television show." She murmured as she stood up and nudged her sister. "Break it up, we're going on a scavenger hunt."

"Oh … where?"

"Were you not listening, darling?" Maleficent smirked. "We're going back to Rumple's store. Meet you all there."

Maleficent departed in a puff of smoke, followed by Zelena and Ruby. And after Regina ensured Granny was comfortable, she and Emma proceeded to follow.

"That is so trippy. I hope I'll be able to do that one day." Emma smiled and then dropped a quick kiss to Regina's lips before they joined the others.

"So, Red, you and Zelena take the left of the store. Emma and Regina the right and I will focus around the counter." Maleficent instructed her family.

For an hour they examined every object they came across. Irritation had started to find its way into Emma's system as Regina noticed gold flickered in the hazel eyes of her beloved.

"Darling, why are your eyes flickering?"

"Oh … it's nothing really, just a little irritated by the lack of discovery. It's when the gold settles that you may want to worry." Emma subconsciously nibbled her lower lip as a fleeting thought reminded her of the reasons behind her many foster homes.

"I know that, dear." Regina smiled. "I did raise our son. I was just wanting to know why the irritation and to be honest, I agree with you. I'm starting to wonder if I was wrong about this place."

"Well, we still have a few more things to check over." Emma offered Regina a smile.

Thirty minutes later, the group had nearly combed through the entire store. Maleficent had now joined Red and Zelena, while Emma and Regina had nearly completed their side. It was when their backs were to the counter that a cackle echoed throughout the room. Everyone stopped in mid-action and turned towards the source of the cackle, all were surprised to see Snow White clad in leather from head to toe sitting atop the counter.

"I don't think you're going to find what you're looking for." She giggled. Her eyes looked to be consumed by darkness as each woman stared into what could only be described as the depths of dark holes. The Dark woman tilted her head to the left and smirked at Regina. "I have no doubt that it was you who guessed where the dagger would be. Unfortunately, or, fortunately, in my case, I succumbed to the calling and had stopped by to collect it before you all arrived."

"I knew the darkness would win. What was it? Some poor beggar didn't give you what you wanted so you became a brat and killed them?" Regina smiled.

"You do realize that I can kill you, right here, right now? I can kill you for everything you have done to me."

Regina scoffed. "Oh please, dear. Are you trying to intimidate me?" She laughed sardonically at the Dark One. "You may have killed Rumple, but do not for one second believe that I am an arrogant or ignorant fool like he was. I've been playing this game for far too long to die by your hands and all I see in front of me is a little girl playing dress-up in a big girl's game. So, why don't you take your leave."

"I will be back Regina, and I will be coming for all of you." Dark Snow leered at the group before her head tilted towards Maleficent. "Especially you. You took my daughter away from me and you're going to pay." Her words faltered at the sound of Maleficent's laughter.

"Even as the Dark One, you're still an idiot." Maleficent chuckled. "Well, this has been very entertaining but I think it's time to return home." She nodded to her family. "Mark my words, Snow, my family will be ready and waiting for your return." She warned before she transported herself home to the mansion, followed by Zelena and Red.

"Regina."

"What do you want now?"

"I know you told Charming that you will save me if you happened to find a way."

"Well, you can …"

"You needn't bother. I've accepted my fate. I have been given one task but in order to complete that task I need power."

"Let me guess, the only way of receiving that power is by murdering powerful people?" Emma asked. She had been a bystander to this conversation for far too long.

"Correct. And if that means killing you all, then … so be it." Dark Snow smiled.

"You're setting yourself up for defeat. You have no idea what we're capable of." Regina warned.

"I disagree. You see, I am in possession of hundreds of years of knowledge." She smiled as she tapped her temple. "And the dragon has already mentioned the Power of Three. After a little research, I have deduced that it is rather simple to defeat that power. Oh, and if I were to, say … attack tomorrow, would you all still be ready?" Echoes of her menacing laughter remained after black smoke dissipated from the counter.

"We need to find Lily now!" Emma groaned as she paced the floor of the family room after she and Regina returned home. "I'm going to call my contacts to see if they have any leads." She walked off towards the study.

"What happened?" Maleficent asked as she watched Emma stomp away. "Why did you two take so long to return?"

"Snow knows how to defeat the girls." Regina sighed as she sat on the sofa, taking the glass of brandy handed to her by Red.

"What? No one can defeat them."

"I believed her Mal. She was adamant she knows how to defeat them and even threatened if we would be ready for her if she were to attack tomorrow. She has been tasked with a job and needs our power to achieve it. She's coming after us."

"We'll be fine, Regina. You don't need to worry." Zelena consoled her sister. "We all are powerful witches. Hello! We have the Evil Queen, Wicked Witch, Queen of Darkness and, even without their Power of Three powers, the girls are still powerful beings in their own right. If it means Emma is going to flush a whole lotta white magic into that dark bitch, then Emma is going to darn well do it." She smiled at her sister.

* * *

"What do you mean you haven't found any leads? What the hell, JJ, I thought you were one of the best?" Emma grumbled towards the phone that sat on Regina's desk.

"Look, Emma. I've tried but there is just no information for a Lily Paige since 1998. I had even asked some of my contacts to do a search and they were also unsuccessful." JJ replied as his voice floated from the speakerphone.

"What am I going to do? If I can't find my sister then we might be fucking screwed." The woman had her elbow resting on the table as she massaged her temple.

"Why don't you call me back tomorrow evening, I will keep searching."

"Okay." Emma sighed. "Thanks for all your help, JJ."

"Anytime Emma. Talk to you tomorrow."

JJ smiled brightly as he swiped his finger across his screen ending the phone call. It was a hard task to convince Emma Swan that he couldn't find anything on her sister. The man laughed loudly and couldn't wait for the following day to arrive. By this time tomorrow, Swan will have received his belated birthday present.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Sorry, I'm late **smirk** **_

_**I have some family stuff going on right now which delayed my writing time and then it was just a pure domino effect after that. However, I found time and have finally completed it :):) I need to thank my fabulous Beta QueenLana15 for her amazing patience, assistance, and assurance. I appreciate you :):) **_

_**P.S I do need to let you all know that in the future I may be late (by a few days), but I will not let you all down and drop the story. Mahalo!**_

Trees, buildings, people, cars. It seemed like every object imaginable had bypassed her in the last few hours. The moment reminded her of her younger life, a time when it seemed life was passing her by. She closed her eyes and visualized a film strip, each picture depicted an unforgettable moment in that life from so long ago, a life from before she was found. She had been troubled, and every time she tried to escape, she would be returned. Until she ran to the one person she trusted and ruined everything. The only time she had felt her heart truly break was when the only person she had loved, walked away from her. After that, she vowed to never return to that life again and ran. The film strip burned to ashes.

She smiled as she looked over to the person beside her. Life was different now. The day she was found, was the day that her life truly began. The woman that sat at her side had been a blessing, her heart was consumed by so much love for her. It was by accident that they found each other, literally, by accident. She had stolen a car and had reversed out into traffic without looking and hit a car, the car that belonged to this woman. They felt an instant connection, it was weird at first and the woman offered to dismiss the damage to her car if they could go and get a coffee together; she needed one to calm her heart down. During their coffee, the woman asked many questions and it was surprising how easy the answers were freely given, with no inhibitions to erect walls and keep the intrusion away. A home was offered, a relationship formed, an unbreakable bond created, and a family to call her own.

Her eyes moved to the front of the vehicle, to the noisy duo that were singing and laughing to the music on the radio. They were part of her new life and had welcomed her with open arms. It took her a long time to trust these people, and to develop a love for them, yet, both eventuated and now flowed uninhibited between the four. Now, they were on a new journey, together. Excitement started to form in the pit of her stomach; it felt like they were going home.

It wasn't long after, she laid her head upon the woman's shoulder, whispered her love for her and closed her eyes to nap. Mere minutes later, sharp gasps filled the vehicle elicited by a flash of pain each person felt. They had arrived, and soon another chapter in their life would begin.

* * *

"Hey, what are you doing in here?" Emma asked Regina as she walked into the study and saw the woman sitting on the couch, glasses perched on her nose and reading a book. In an unusual start to her day, she had woken up alone, a worried frown etched across her forehead and she went in search of her girlfriend throughout the quiet house.

"Just doing some research, darling. Did you sleep well?" The brunette asked as she pursed her lips for Emma to kiss.

"I slept great and I would have woken up great too if not for being alone. What are you researching?" The blonde asked as she sat down, then looked over to the page Regina was reading and shook her head. The entire page was definitely not written in English.

"Just preparing myself in case the inevitable happens."

Emma laid her arm on the back of the sofa behind Regina and thought for a moment before speaking. "Should I be preparing myself? I mean, I don't even know how to use magic."

"Hmm … I don't know why your mother has not started to teach you yet. I would suggest we start magic lessons as soon as possible." Regina removed her reading glasses and looked at her partner. "Magic is emotion, magic stems from what we feel. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the magic will become."

"So, just thinking out loud here … but if I felt really, really, _really_ hungry, I could think of it and make it appear?" Regina laughed at the blonde's example. "Or if I wanted to poof myself somewhere, I just need to think of that place and all the emotions that place makes me feel then I will poof there?"

"Basically, yes."

"Wow … that's fu … funtiddilyastic!" Emma laughed at her newly found word.

"I love you, Emma." Regina smiled at her goofy love.

"I love you too, my queen." She replied before she pecked Regina's lips. "I do have another question regarding magic."

"Okay."

"Hypothetically speaking, if I were extremely hungry for a particular type of food, one that was a specialty dish, one that I will be the only person to have the privilege of feasting on ..."

"Yes … is this going anywhere, Emma?" Regina asked as she continued to read her book.

"It is. So, if I am starving for that delicious treat, and wish to indulge in that particular banquet in a special room that is designed to keep people out and block all the noises leaving that room so that no one will hear me satiate my hunger, I just need to imagine it all and let my emotions run away with my thoughts?"

"Yes, but you need to keep in mind that all magic comes with a price."

"Yes!" Emma exclaimed as she pumped her first, totally disregarding the last part of Regina's reply. "Right, are you ready?"

"Ready for what dear?" Regina asked with a frown.

"Ready to be my fe … nooooooooooooo!" Emma growled, as the last sounds of the doorbell echoed throughout the house.

"That's the doorbell, darling. I best go and see who it is." Regina placed her book on the coffee table as she went to stand.

"No." Emma groaned. She pulled Regina back down onto the couch.

"Emma? What is wrong with you?" The brunette hissed and rubbed her arm.

"No, don't go. I want to eat, Regina."

"You can eat after I answer the door." The brunette replied. She stood and looked at her pouting girlfriend.

"No, I won't because if someone is ringing our doorbell then it is probably important. Right now, I hate this life."

"Why are you so grumpy?"

"Because, Regina, I wanted to eat, I wanted to take you to our bedroom and cast every spell known to mankind to keep people out and block all noises while I feasted on your body. I'm damn hungry, Regina! Every time we go to bed, we're so freaking tired that we're snoring before we even wish each other goodnight. Feed me!" Emma was beyond frustrated, sexually frustrated that is.

"Oh," The brunette blushed.

"Yes, oh! Now go and answer that damn door. The faster we see who it is, the faster I can have my way with you." Emma ordered as she tried to settle her hormones, a very hard task after watching Regina walk out with an extra sway in her hips. Damn woman! She thought.

"Emma!" Regina gasped as she returned to the room. "You need to come out and meet our guest."

"Who is it?"

"Just come, quickly." Regina urged as she grasped Emma's arm and pulled her out of the room.

"I'd rather be coming in a different way." The blonde mumbled to herself before she looked up to see a brunette standing in the family room. "Hi, I'm Emma." She smiled politely and reached out her hand for a handshake.

"Emma," The woman whispered as she ran to hug the blonde.

"Ahh…" Emma's eyebrows raised in surprise at the woman's action.

"Darling, do you not recognize her?" Regina asked quietly.

The stranger pulled herself away from Emma and smiled, a couple of tears had trekked down her cheek. Emma stared at the woman then gasped; her hand flew to her mouth to cover the audible sound. Red eyes shone brightly towards her. "Lily?" She whispered.

"Yes! Oh my god, Emma!" The two collided with each other, arms encompassed the other with happiness and warmth.

"I'm so sorry, Lily. I should never have turned my back on you. I'm so, so, sorry." Emma cried into her sister's ear.

Regina stood to the side as tears trickled down her cheeks. She was stunned after answering the front door to see a stranger on her doorstep that wanted to speak to Emma; stunned further when she informed Regina of her name. Now, to see this beautiful reunion, her heart was smiling for her love. She continued to stand and watch a few minutes longer before she left the room.

"How did you find Storybrooke? How did you get here? I'm so glad you're here." Emma asked as she moved back a tiny little bit, she didn't want to let go.

"Your friend JJ gave me the coordinates after he found me. I told him that I wanted to surprise you and to not let on."

"That asshole!" Emma smiled. "He told me last night that there was no trace of you anywhere, I was guttered. I didn't know how I was going to find you."

"Well, I'm here now." Lily grinned for a moment. "But there is something that we need to discuss."

"Definitely. I have some things to share with you."

"You do?"

"Yup. But you need to meet someone first." Emma informed her sister; she was overly ecstatic to have Lily with her.

"Darling, Regina said I had to come in here and meet someone," Mal spoke as she walked into the room. Her eyes grew big at the new scent in the room, they flicked towards Emma then towards the stranger, again to Emma and returned to the stranger.

"Mal, meet Lily or as you would have named her, Nyx." Emma beamed with happiness.

"Ahhh!" Mal screamed long and hard as she ran towards her long-lost daughter. "Oh, my gods!" She cried; her arms flung around her daughter while her mouth kissed Lily's entire face. "You're finally here with us, you're here!"

"Mama? What the hell are you screaming about? I could hear you in my bedroom." Red moaned as she walked into the room, rubbing her eyes of sleep.

Maleficent stepped back and took in her eldest daughter. She finally had all of her babies together. "Red, oh Red." Tears of happiness cascaded down her cheeks as her forefinger flew back and forth between Red and Lily. "Lily. Red. Lily. Red …" She pulled her baby girl back into her arms.

"Lily? As in our sister?" Red asked Emma, receiving a nod in response.

"Holy shit!" The brunette screamed before jumping over to hug their mother and sister.

Emma watched on as she felt arms embrace her from behind. "She found us, babe," Emma whispered.

"Yes, my darling. Now, all we need to find is your other mother." Regina placed a kiss on Emma's neck and tightened her hold.

"What is going on here? Sounds like a bloody pack of hyenas." Zelena moaned as she wiped the sleep from her eyes and turned to the 'pack of hyenas'. "Who's that?" She asked her sister.

"That is Lily."

"Ohhhh…"

Ten minutes later, everyone, including Henry, sat around the family room as Emma explained to Lily her arrival to Storybrooke, meeting their mother, and then meeting Red. She excluded anything curse, dragon or Dark One related as she didn't want to terrify Lily just yet, especially since she believed Lily had no idea as to who was exactly her family.

"What about you? how have you been?" Emma asked her twin.

"Well, after you and I separated, I took off to Chicago and lived on the streets."

"Oh, Lily, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Em, I don't blame you. I ruined your home for you. If I'm honest with myself, all I ever wanted was to be with you. We had always said that we would be sisters for life, and hello … we actually are." The brunette and the blonde laughed.

"So, how did you know that we were sisters?" Emma asked.

"Well …" Lily began but was interrupted by a beep from her cellphone. "Actually, there are some people I would like for some of you to meet. They're outside, let me just go and get them."

"Okay."

"I'll make more coffee and some breakfast while introductions are being made."

"Actually, Lily, why don't you bring them into the kitchen when you get back, we'll all move in there and help with breakfast," Emma suggested.

Regina sent Henry to change before assigning jobs to everyone. Emma grinned as she made her way to the corner of the kitchen bench and slipped bread into the toaster. Maleficent stood beside her and proceeded to butter the toast, which she preferred as her knowledge of cooking consisted of burning meat by her dragon's fiery breath. Zelena took charge of making the coffee and pouring the juice for Henry. Upon his return, Henry was tasked with preparing the dining room table. All the while, Red and Regina made eggs, bacon and breakfast sausages for everyone. Everything was nearly prepared when they heard the front door open.

Lily ushered her family into the house after she spent fifteen minutes standing outside of their vehicle to calm down her fellow back seat passenger. She knew the woman would be nervous, actually, nervous could be an understatement. She was freaking out. That was the sole reason Lily had entered the mansion alone earlier while her family drove around town.

"It's going to be alright." She hugged the woman beside her.

"Are you sure?" The frightened woman asked before looking to her other family members.

"Of course, darling." The oldest of all the women replied as she flicked her streak of black hair off her forehead to sit nicely coiffed and in contrast with her sleek white hair. "You watch, you are going to be hugged and kissed. They will be happy to see you." The woman pulled her plush stole firmly around her shoulders.

"Why don't you guys stay here for a second while I get their attention," Lily suggested just outside of the kitchen. She waited for the women to nod before she entered.

"Hey, guys." Lily smiled.

"Hi sweetheart, where are your friends?" Mal asked as she continued to butter the last slice of toast.

"They're right here. Ahh … you might want to put down your knife and, Red, maybe you would want to finish cooking what you're doing before they enter."

"Oh, okay." Red frowned as she pulled the pan of scrambled eggs out of the oven and placed it onto the bench. Fortunately, they were cooked and ready to plate.

"Right. So … let me just pull them in." Lily smiled as everyone now watched her. She ducked outside of the door and grabbed hold of the still frightened woman. "It's going to be okay." She told her before she pecked her cheek, and her eyes flashed red with love. She gently guided the woman into the room and heard gasps of surprise and then screaming before the woman was engulfed into an array of limbs.


	12. Chapter 12

**Aloha everyone. I hope you are all coping magnificently within the realm of self-isolation. This chapter is all about bringing the family together, to be on the same page of their story. From here on out, I hope that the story will start building up to a final battle between the Dark One and The Power of Three (and if anyone else shows up to assist either side, well that would just be an added bonus haha). **

**And finally, I cannot end this note without mentioning QueenLana15. In a small amount of time, she has taught me a lot to help improve my writing. I couldn't have been blessed with a more pleasant, calm, friendly and highly intelligent Beta :)**

**Without further ado, I hope you all enjoy this read. Mahalo nui for your support.**

"Ah… you do amaze me, dearie." The golden-skinned man hopped around in excitement and cackled when he saw the anger etch across the woman's forehead.

"You're not needed here." Dark Snow replied to the apparition that annoyed her just as much as he did when he was alive. She continued to watch a redheaded woman sword fighting with three men.

"I know why you're here." The man teased. "Why not just go and fetch it, we both know they cannot defeat you."

"Leave." She warned.

"Why do you need an army?" He whispered into her ear, aware that he was irritating her.

"I don't need an army you insolent fool."

"But that is why you're here."

Dark Snow stood in the shadows of the forest as she watched the Princess and Princes sparring in front of their castle. She was capable of killing them but if she did succumb to the wishes of her predecessors, she knew word would travel back to Storybrooke, and she wanted to watch the faces of her enemies when she enacted the first part of her scheme. She flicked her hand and disappeared, deciding to return later in the night.

Maleficent stepped back from her true love, her wife, the beat to her heart. As she frantically swiped away the tears that were like a torrential rain down her cheeks, she allowed her eyes a moment to caress the face that she thought she would never see again. "Oh dearest, I have missed you so much!" She voiced shakily before she captured her wife's lips with her own, separating slightly breathless moments later. "Come, there is someone you need to meet."

Not realizing that Regina and Henry had moved over to stand beside her, Emma stood stock still at her perch by the toaster and watched the scene unfold as her mother and sister engulfed a brunette woman. The sounds of crying and mumbled words pierced her ears until the realization set in that Lily had brought their mother home. The rim of her eyes watered in response and it was only then that she felt strong arms had embraced her upper body and smaller arms were wrapped around her waist. The family of three continued to watch the sequence of movements until Maleficent guided the woman to stand in front of them.

"You are as beautiful as the first light that brightens our heavens, my darling, Aither." The stranger smiled as she stepped away from Maleficent and walked slowly directly in front of Emma and her family. They were close enough to exchange breaths. "I have waited nearly thirty years to meet you."

"You have?" Emma gasped.

"I have, dear one. I knew your mother was carrying twins, but she wouldn't listen to me. Sometimes, she can be as stubborn as a mule." The woman rolled her eyes in disbelief and smiled.

"I can believe that." Emma laughed as she recalled Mal waking her and Regina, then hurrying them along to the diner. Emma exhaled slowly before she asked in a quiet voice. "Are you my other mom?"

A broad smile captured Emma's attention, confirming her question. "I am, sweetheart. My name is Anita." Anita turned her head to smile at Mal, their eyes still expressed their love for each other after all these years of being absent from each other's lives. "I thought this day would never come, to have all of my babies and darling wife together. It's all because of you." She returned to look at her blonde child. "Your light guided us to each other." Her eyes became wet as a tear made its way slowly down her cheek. "May I?" She asked Emma as she gestured to hug the blonde.

"Of course," Emma whispered. She squeezed her mother tight before they were engulfed by Maleficent, Red, and Lily.

Following a very lively breakfast, the ever-growing household decided to spend the rest of the morning at the park. Henry and Emma ventured over to the pond to feed the ducks. Lily, Zelena, and Red went off to the coffee cart to buy coffees and a milkshake for Henry. Meanwhile, the remaining women sat atop multiple blankets enjoying the sun.

"What do you think of your growing family, kid?" Emma asked Henry as she tossed a piece of bread towards a paddling of ducks.

"I think it's awesome. I never thought bringing you here would only be the beginning. Our home used to be really quiet and now there's noise everywhere. Are you okay with it, Ma?"

Emma thought about the question for a moment. Not once did she think she would find her birth parents or have siblings, yet here she was, a daughter of a wolf and a dragon, and with two sisters. She admitted that she felt a little overwhelmed. "I am kind of worried that I might ruin things because I'm not used to having so many people in my life. But, having you and your mom with me have helped me to cope with the changes. I know you once called me the Savior, but if I'm honest, Henry, you and your mom are my Saviors. In this short time, you have both kept me grounded." She stopped tossing bread into the water and turned to look down at Henry. "Thank you, for bringing me home."

"You're welcome, Ma." The boy smiled as he threw his arms around Emma.

"You raised a brilliant, wholesome boy, Regina." Anita smiled. They watched Emma and Henry hugging at the pond. Contented, she leaned back into Mal's arms and sighed.

"Thank you. I don't know where I would be right now if not for him in my life. How long have you been in Lily's life? Emma had told us that she knew Lily when she was younger but didn't mention that she had a mother."

"Yes, dearest, what happened?" Maleficent asked.

"How about I start from the beginning?" Anita answered. "I'm sure Ruby had told you about the attack in the cave by your knights, Regina."

"We discussed that, and have determined that it was a set up by Snow White. Regina's men did not attack the cave, nor did she give any orders to do so." The Dragon mother corrected her wife.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that and I had assumed that might had been the case knowing that Regina banned any hunting or murder of wolves. Anyway, I survived the attack. I don't know how long I was knocked out but when I woke, Red was missing and the bodies of my pack were scattered everywhere. My head throbbed, I had a gash across my forehead and my body was battered and bruised. I stumbled out of the cave with the hope that Red was lying nearby, but I couldn't find her anywhere. So, I decided to return home and hoped she had also returned. As I neared the castle, I saw Snow White and Charming carrying an egg. I panicked. I knew they had our babies; I could feel them reaching to me. My mind went directly to you, Mal, and I thought that if they managed to kidnap our babies then… then… then… oh, gawd…" She started to wipe her tears as she felt Maleficent lift her and sit her down across her lap so they could look at each other.

"I'm still here, darling."

"And I'm glad but at the time..." She pecked Maleficent's lips and snuggled down. After a moment, she continued her story. "I was torn in two. Should I go and check on you or follow them, and I knew you would have wanted me to get our babies back. So, I trailed them to a clearing where they met with The Apprentice. They gave him the egg and he quickly started to perform magic. I inched my way closer and kept my eye on them as I tried to figure out what to do to get our babies back. Then I noticed that the egg was hatching and he… he screamed that the child was too evil for our land and needed to be sent away."

"That was the moment that we arrived and ran out trying to stop everything. But he was too quick and threw the egg into a portal that he conjured up." Ursula, the Sea Goddess supplied to the conversation.

"And… we followed the baby." Cruella de Vil added before she inhaled a puff of her cigarette.

Regina sat there shocked. She had wondered over the years why there was no sign of the couple in Storybrooke. "You two just jumped into the portal with no thought of what might happen to you?" She had never known the duo to be selfless women; this all surprised her.

"Mal had always been there for us, so we couldn't let her down." Ursula shrugged.

"I thought you both died because you never returned. I sincerely thank you for your sacrifice, I will never forget what you did for my family." Maleficent rubbed Ursula's shoulder and nodded to Cruella in thanks.

"I do admit Mal, that we were definitely surprised when you summoned us and sent us after those idiots." Cruella looked accusingly at Maleficent. "We didn't know you were damn pregnant, let alone married … and to Anita!" Cruella shook her head as if she were trying to rid her mind of the anger.

"I can definitely relate to that," Regina mumbled.

"As I told Regina, there were many factors to consider and I could not put my family's safety in harm's way," Maleficent replied. "The three of you are my nearest and dearest friends but my family is my world, they are my everything. When I lost them all, my heart shattered into a million pieces. So, please do not fault me for trying to keep them safe."

"We're together now," Anita interjected. "Let's remember that."

"Yes, of course. Why don't you carry on with your story?" Regina suggested.

"After I watched these two," Anita nodded her head towards Ursula and Cruella. "jump through the portal, I saw that The Apprentice and The Charming's were distracted. So, I slipped into the portal just as it was about to close. Those were my babies and there was no way in Hades Hell that I would allow them to grow up without at least one of their parents." Anita laughed. "It was just unfortunate that the babies were sent to an entirely different location than where we three ended up. We stalked that forest for days trying to look for them." The woman frowned as she thought of something.

"You all must have been disorientated, or maybe petrified by the ways of this world?" Regina asked.

"Yes, we were. We were so happy to kill a rabbit, we were starved. Actually, if it weren't for the warden, we probably would have died out there. You all might know him because he surely knew who Eight Legs and Talking Dogs were." She smirked in reference to the names the Warden used to refer to her two dear friends. "His name is Robin of Locksley or more commonly known as…"

"Robin Hood." Emma supplied as she laid down in front of Regina while Henry sat beside his brunette mother.

"Yes. You would know of him because he is quite famous in this world."

"Yup. If I were lucky enough while growing up, I'd get to watch that program on tele."

"Wait." Regina interrupted. "How did he get into this world?"

"That old witch Mortianna sent him and his son through a portal when he tried to steal from her."

"And here I thought I was an original." Regina snarked. "How many other people are out there?"

"No idea. But Robin helped us to get on our feet, he set us up with identification and everything. We all went to school; I have my own business, Cru fittingly enough is a veterinarian, and Ursula is an oceanographer."

"That is fabulous, darlings. It's obvious that you all utilized your time out in that world." Mal congratulated even though she felt a sting of jealousy. If Anita could move on with her life did that mean she had moved on with other people?

"Beloved, we needed to survive out there and the only way to do that was to educate ourselves and utilize that money to find our daughters. You have always been with me and I hoped one day that we would meet again. Which begs me to ask, how did you all end up in this world?"

"Ahh… I should probably answer that." Regina smiled nervously before she informed the three women of her account of the dark curse, pausing once when Lily, Zelena, and Red returned with coffees and then proceeded with her story.

"So, only one baby came through the portal? I didn't see the transfer at all." Anita looked over towards Emma, studied her for a moment before asking. "You and Regina met a month ago and you're now in a relationship together?"

"Yes." Emma felt Regina tense behind her and start to pull her hands away from Emma's waist. "She is the love of my life and I wouldn't have it any other way," Emma responded to her mother before reaching for Regina's arms and pulling them forward to once again wrap around her waist.

Noticing her fellow brunette's tense shoulders, Anita directed her grin at the woman to hopefully lower the walls that the woman was mentally building. "Regina, I don't mean any harm or judgment. I only want to confirm that you are both in a relationship. I may not know you too well, but just looking at how happy and loved my grandson is, I know I don't need to worry about my daughter."

"No." Regina exhaled. She ran her fingers through Emma's blonde locks as she replied. "You definitely do not need to worry about her when it comes to our relationship. I think I fell in love with her the first moment I saw her on my front doorstep." She smiled at the memory.

"Me too." The blonde piped up before she took a sip of her coffee.

"Nana, when did you and Aunt Lily meet?" Henry asked his newest grandmother and giggled at her open-mouthed reaction to calling her Nana.

"Well, young man." She coughed and smiled at her grandson. "We met when she backed her stolen car into my car." She laughed. "We had been searching for the babies for years and couldn't find much. Who would've known that we would bump into each other… literally?"

"We went for coffee and well… that was the start of everything, I basically told her my entire life story and Em, you know that's not something I do easily." Emma nodded. "It was a few weeks later that she told me things, at first I thought she was just bat shit crazy… but, there was an inkling that what she had said was the truth. So, I decided to give her a chance and I'm glad too. And having these two in my life was an absolute bonus." Lily winked at her two Aunts.

"Well, I'm glad you all have reunited." Zelena smiled. "But it's getting late and we should head home and start getting dinner ready, there's still plenty more to discuss tonight."

She stood in front of the case and smirked with delight, like stealing candy from a baby, she thought mirthlessly. She clicked her fingers and the Helm found its way to her hands as a replica replaced the original inside the glass casing. Cackling with delight, she flicked her fingers and disappeared.


	13. Chapter 13

**Aloha everyone. Well, another chapter up and a couple of three to go... who knows? I like this chapter, so let's hope you do too. **

**Firstly, I apologize to all yoga enthusiasts who will read this chapter. I included a mudrā and a pose and if for any reason I have misconstrued the meaning or action, I sincerely apologize. **

**Secondly, words are becoming hard to find to express my many, many, many, many thanks to you, QueenLana15, for everything you have taught, explained, and shared with me. I am extremely thankful that you offered to be my Beta and I hope I do show how grateful I am. :) :)**

**Finally, I hope you all are well, and enjoying spending time doing things within your home doing things that you normally put on the back burner because you're too busy. Stay safe, and stay healthy!**

* * *

The family left the park and stopped at the diner to surprise Granny. A teary reunion led the old woman to kick all of her patrons out and closed shop, then returned to the mansion with everyone. Now, as the clock struck three o'clock in the morning, a tired but excited Henry stood against the back walls of the mansion beside Granny and watched his birth mother and her sisters enact a compelling ritual to claim their powers. The women stood huddled together holding hands, while Regina, Maleficent, Anita, Zelena, Ursula, and Cruella surrounded them a few steps away in a circle of protection. He watched as the three women looked up into the heavens to begin their chant.

**_We call forth from time and space,_**

**_the Ancient ones of whom we descend._**

**_We call forth from time and space,_**

**_the Ancient ones of whom we descend._**

**_We call forth from time and space,_**

**_the Ancient ones of whom we descend._**

He had learned earlier when his grandma explained the ritual that they needed to repeat the opening and last verse of the chant three times. By repeating, the chant informs the spirits that the women have accepted and acknowledged their destiny on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. He did wonder if his birth mother had actually accepted her destiny. He could garner from her facials and roll of her eyes during the in-depth conversation held earlier about the ritual that this was definitely an aspect of her new life she had yet to embrace fully. He shrugged with that thought as the outcome of the ritual will provide an answer. He quietened his thoughts when he heard his Aunt Lily call forth her namesake.

**_Mother of Sleep, Death, Strife, and Pain,_**

**_I call upon thee_**

A moment ticked by without a noise. If one didn't know what was supposed to come next, they would assume the ritual completed. The boy frowned when there was a continued silence… his mother either forgot her words or she was hesitant. He nibbled on his lower lip nervously. If she didn't speak up quickly, everything would be for nothing. "Yes!" He screamed silently to himself when his mother's voice reached his ears, followed by his Aunt Red.

**_Goddess of Light, Bright & Air of the Blue Ether of the Heavens_**

**_I call upon thee_**

**_Goddess of Magic, Witchcraft, Night and Moon_**

**_I call upon thee_**

The first part of the ritual was now completed. Regina watched the three sisters drop their hands and moved to stand in a line, then began to move their bodies to stand in the tadasana pose, a meditating pose that she had never seen performed before. Moments later, with a deep fascination, she watched each woman raise their forearms until each hand was aligned with their corresponding shoulder. Both hands were open and pointed up to the heavens; palms facing outwards. The former Evil Queen was enthralled at the in-sync movements of pinky fingers and ring fingers as they were brought in to touch thumbs. Finally, the three women closed their eyes and calmly inhaled then exhaled slowly, each breath more relaxing than the prior.

Earlier, Regina had conducted some research about Prana Mudrā, the hand gesture utilized by the sisters. The prana is the vital life essence within all living things and the Prana Mudrā regulates the flow of the prana throughout the body. It also has the ability to awaken the inactive energy within one's body, an objective of the ritual.

Minutes passed by until everyone was brought back to attention by the alluring voices of the sisters as they continued their chant.

**_Bestow your blessing_**

**_Upon your servants three._**

**_Give us the power_**

**_To claim refuge in its rightful space._**

**_Bless us with the power_**

**_That is our destiny._**

**_We, The Power of Three._**

**_So, note it be!_**

They chanted the last verse three times. Then they moved their mudra to their heart and concluded their chant. As the last syllable was heard, lightning bolts of gold, red and blue charged from the sky. It was magic. Each colored bolt rained down upon their aligned witch. Blue bolts entered Lily's mudra and then penetrated her chest. The brunette screamed in pain from the attack, her body flung back, arms stretched wide, and her eyes were mesmerized by the fiery blue flames that had engulfed them.

The gold bolts and red bolts transpierced Emma and Red simultaneously. Both grunted by the blows. Emma bowed, hands on her knees as she tried to breathe. Regina stared in awe as a bright golden glow encompassed her Love's body and then gradually faded away.

Red fell to her knees with a thud, the earth shook on impact as an earsplitting howl escaped her throat. Henry's eyes jutted out of their sockets as he watched the spectacular show. He felt Granny grip his shoulder in anticipation. He turned to the surrounding women and saw his two grandmothers smiling, and his mother's vision focused on his blonde mother.

Emma clutched her shirt where the lightning bolt of magic hit. It felt like it hit directly into her heart and then spread outwards to the rest of her body. Pictures and words flashed in her vision, each distinct, each clear until they settled into the hippocampus of her brain to store until needed. She felt the magic course through her body and smiled at the magical knowledge she was blessed with.

"It's complete." Maleficent smiled. The blonde dragon was proud of her three daughters. She and Anita ran to hug their daughters and ensured they were okay.

Emma hugged both of her mother's briefly before she walked into Regina's arms. She needed to feel the woman's warmth, the woman's love that grounded her. As their fingers touched, an electrical current of gold and indigo charged between their hands. Both women surprised, watched the little show.

"I'm very proud of you, my darling." The brunette whispered as she moved up to peck Emma's lips.

"Thank you. For a moment there I thought I had botched everything up; I panicked."

"You did well. How are you feeling?" Regina asked as she stepped back to look over the blonde's body.

"I'm tired, I feel like I just had the shit beat out of me, otherwise, I'm good, babe. Do you know what that magic was between us?" Thanks to her new abilities and knowledge, Emma knew perfectly well what the spark of electricity meant.

"I have some thoughts. How about you? Do you know what it was?"

"I do, but it's nothing that we don't already know, babe." Emma grinned and jiggled her eyebrows up and down.

"Ma! That was awesome." The boy smiled as he wrapped his arms around his parents. "When the bolts came down, I thought it was going to blow us all up."

Emma laughed. "You weren't the only one kid, I thought my eyes were going to fall out of my sockets." She looked around to everyone and noticed Lily and Mal over to the side. There was no lip movement but it was obvious that they were in discussion. She was about to walk over to the duo but stopped when Lily moved across the yard into Anita's arms, who stood beside her two friends. Red and Zelena were in conversation with Granny.

"Babe, do you want to go to bed? It's late and Henry should be asleep already." Emma looked down at her son who was leaning against her side.

"Of course, darling. I just want to make sure everyone has sleeping arrangements sorted."

Twenty minutes later, Emma and Regina laid cuddled in each other's arms. The blonde was drained and could barely keep her eyes open but all her mind could think about was the woman in her arms. The two had still to consummate their relationship, and as far as Emma was concerned, it was probably not going to happen until all this mess with Snow White was over with. That irritated the hell out of her.

"Darling, why are you growling?" Regina asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm still hungry, Regina, but I'm too drained to do anything." Emma groaned before she moved her head to stare down at Regina. "Why are you laughing?"

"You sound like a sex-starved dragon. Is that all you've been thinking about?"

"How can I not? Have you seen yourself? Heard yourself speak? Noticed how you walk? You're like a walking wet dream." Emma smirked as Regina slapped her shoulder.

"You're an idiot, Emma Swan. My idiot, but still an idiot." The woman stared at her girlfriend for a moment before she continued. "I promise that whenever we make love, it will be worth the wait, my darling. I can't wait to make love to you also, but right now we have more pressing tasks that need our attention." She slowly caressed Emma's chin with the palm of her hand.

"I know. But as soon as there is a moment, I'm not wasting any time going slow. I'm just letting you know. I am going to magic all of our clothes off and eat you as if you were my last meal." Emma grinned.

Regina shook her head. "I look forward to it, darling. Now get some sleep. I love you."

Emma pulled Regina to lie partially across her chest and placed a kiss on the woman's head. "Good night, Regina. I love all of you with all that I am."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the solitary space of the Storybrooke forest, Dark Snow smiles. She had returned to Storybrooke in time to watch the lightning bolts of magic descend upon the town, the ritual had been completed and her reign of power was not too far away. Her predecessors had given her one task and needed the power to be successful. A power she had planned to take from the Power of Three and their fellow witches. Their power will assist in her endeavor to create a portal from the Overworld to the Underworld in order for previous Dark Ones to return to life and erase all essence of light magic. She cackled in delight. The witches were going to pay for everything they had inflicted on her, especially for taking her daughter.

As the sun slowly rose to lighten the darkened sky, Dark Snow twirled her forefinger and appeared outside of an apartment door. Although revenge reigned for the woman, a microscopic spot on her dark heart still remained for the man who was once deemed her true love. She could not allow him to get hurt while she enacted her plans. Without another thought, she opened the door and sauntered into the loft apartment.

"Snow? How are you?" Prince Charming rushed towards his wife. He had been seated at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee. Worry lines etched his handsome face but they easily disappeared when he saw his true love walk into their home.

"You need to leave Storybrooke. I will send you back to the Enchanted Forest and live there, you can reign over the White Kingdom and..." The Dark One informed the man as she stepped out of his embrace.

"What? No, Snow, I can't leave you here." Charming cut the woman off. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

"Then you will die. I am giving you this opportunity because the person I once was loved you. I am no longer that woman, dearie. And you need to accept that. I hold no feelings for you." She stepped back. "If you do not wish to leave, then my business with you is finished."

"What are you planning? Why would I die?"

Dark Snow tilted her head to look at Charming. "You have some nerve to think I will share my plans with you."

"Why would you not trust me? Who do I have to go and tell? You are what's important to me.!" The man growled in frustration. "I just want my wife back."

"She's never coming back." Dark Snow deadpanned. "I am going to erase all light magic from existence. You have until 5 p.m to make a decision, I will return for your answer. If you choose not to return to the Enchanted Forest, then you remain at your own peril." With that final warning, she vanished.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Aloha everyone! I sincerely apologize to everyone that has read, bookmarked, and subscribed to this story. Originally, I had envisioned to complete this story during the COVID lockdown, but that never happened. I had a complete writer's block! Today, I actually had the oomph to reread the entire story (did some edits and improvements along the way) to try and get the flow going again, and this is what I came out with. Hopefully, it continues with the flow of the story. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be available, but fingers crossed that it will be a shorter timeframe than it took for this chapter lol. Mahalo**_

Anita was delighted to have returned to the warmth of the arms that held her, reunited with her eldest child, and to have finally met her blonde daughter. She had sacrificed her love, her clan, her life in the Enchanted Forest to follow her babies through to this unknown world, and at long last her family was together. She snuggled closer within her wife's embrace and sighed happily as she noticed the rays of a new day attempting to break through the drapes.

After the success of the ritual, she and Mal were absolutely elated with their children, a long road lays ahead of them with the upcoming fight against the Dark One, but both mothers hold faith that their daughters will be successful. All that was needed now, was for the girls to strengthen their bonds and become more familiar with their new powers. She was glad to note that the girl's bonds were already quite strong and had no concerns in that regard, but she was a little worried about the slight tension between Mal and Emma. Mal had told her that she wasn't concerned, yes, she was a little hurt but Emma had a hard life and struggled with trusting people, but as long as they continuously showed and expressed their love for her then she will eventually come around. After a little time, Anita agreed with her wife and promised to let their relationship grow organically but she silently promised herself that if she saw no improvement then she would approach Emma. All she had ever wanted in life for her family was to be happy, to be safe, and to be loved, two out of three is a start.

Deciding to get ready for the day, she slowly moved out of the warm embrace and dressed into a pair of black jeans and a black tank. She smiled to herself at the surprise she felt when she first met Emma and noticed how similar they were dressed, meanwhile, their other halves dressed more regally refined. She left the room and walked down the stairs to enter the massive kitchen and start cooking dinner for her family.

"Oh, good morning! I thought I was the only one awake." Anita smiled as she walked into the kitchen to the sweet aroma of caffeine and a smiling brunette.

"Morning, Anita. Coffee is hot if you want some, I thought I would get an early start on breakfast." Regina replied.

"I had the same thoughts; would you mind if I helped?" Anita asked as she reached for the coffee pot.

"Of course not." Regina obliged as she opened the refrigerator. "Maybe we can make bacon, breakfast sausages, eggs, and pancakes?" She asked her… mother-in-law? She questioned herself with a grin.

"That sounds… absolutely fattening. Let me guess, Emma and Henry would love it?" She smirked.

"However, did you guess?" Regina laughed and pulled all of the ingredients out and placed them onto the kitchen island.

Ten minutes had passed as the two women worked side by side in comfortable silence, both lost in their thoughts until Anita decided to ask some questions that had been mulling around in her mind.

"How does the Evil Queen become my daughter's, true love?"

Regina stopped stirring the pancake mix and looked up to Anita. "Honestly, I have asked myself that question so many times." She shook her head in disbelief. "I never thought that I would find love again but the moment I saw her, my body went into…it was like the beat of my heart found the perfect music to dance to and it's a dance that I never want to do alone again." Regina blushed as she noticed Anita's smiling gaze.

"That's beautiful, Regina. I was honest yesterday regarding your relationship. All I have ever wanted is for love to surround my girls, a love that will keep them happy and safe and since the moment I arrived, I see the love you have for my daughter. Thank you."

"It's very easy to love Emma."

"That's good to hear. How long was it before you both entered into a relationship? I recall when Lily and I first met, she had a lot of trust issues and still does."

"The day she arrived, I asked her to move in so that we could all get to know each other but it wasn't until a month later, actually the day that I went to retrieve Mal that Emma and I kissed and then naturally started a relationship. But I had already fallen in love with her."

"Ahh… I'm not sure if I should ask this… but does Emma blame us for abandoning her? I saw that there is some tension between her and Mal and Emma calls Mal by her name."

"No, I don't blame either of you." The two women heard and turned to see Emma had just walked in on their conversation. "I love having Mal in my life and hopefully you too, but I've never had parents, especially parents that love me so, as much as I would love to welcome you all with loving arms and call you both mom or mama… that's not going to happen overnight, but I have no doubt that it will happen. In the future if you want to know anything about me, I would prefer that you ask me, I'm literally an open book… well…" She smiles at Regina. "now I am." Emma shrugged her shoulders and placed a kiss on her mother's temple before she moved in and kissed beautiful plump lips.

"Would you two like for me to leave the room?" Anita chuckled.

"No." Regina blushed as she pushed Emma away gently. "We have breakfast to cook and since your daughter decided to bless us with her presence, she can start on her job." Regina winked at Emma as the blonde took a sip from her coffee and moved over to the toaster.

An hour later the kitchen was a hive of activity as the rest of their family had descended into the kitchen and gathered around the counter and breakfast table. Regina was overwhelmed with warm feelings to have her home so lively with people that not only wanted to be in her home but thought of her as family. It was with that thought that she tapped her knife to her glass of orange juice. Once the room quietened down, Regina stood up to acknowledge her family.

"I wanted to stand and officially welcome you all to our home and to say that although a darkened path may lay ahead for us, at this moment in time my home is overflowing with laughter, chatter, and especially with love. For so long, I was the sole occupant of this home and it was always dark, and then our son came into my life and finally this place became warm and filled with love, but it still contained a coldness that at times seemed to bite deep into my skin. Recently, Henry brought me Emma and for the first time my home felt settled, and I thought our family was complete. Now, I have a sister, and an entire army of in-laws." She chuckled at the thought. "And my home is overcome with so much love that I needed to thank each and every one of you. So, on that note…" She raised her glass of juice. "Cheers, and let's take the next step in our lives together, as one big family." Regina smiled as everyone shared her smile, raised their glasses, and cheered each other.

"It's you, Regina, you, Emma, and Henry that we all should be thanking for welcoming us into your home. Your home is warm with love because of the love the three of you share with each other, our arrivals have only stoked that fire but if left tomorrow, that fire will continue to burn and I have no doubt that it will always burn as long as the love you share remains. So, thank you, darlings." Maleficent responded to Regina's speech and flashed a tender smile to her daughter and her family. "Now, since I have the floor, I believe we need to start planning as I believe the Dark One will try to make a move shortly. Once we see our prince off to school, Anita, Red, Lily, Emma, Regina, and Zelena, may we meet in the study? There are some things I need to discuss with you all before Red goes to work and Anita goes to spend time with her mother."

An hour later, after cleaning the kitchen and taking Henry to school, the ladies all met up in the study.

"Following the ritual, I was given some information into the plans of the Dark One, and I believe we need to come up with something to counter," Maleficent informed the group before she continued to relay the message she was given.

The former Queen of the White Kingdom tramped amidst the trees of the Storybrooke Forest as she contemplated her next step in her plan. She needed to formulate all her thoughts together to orchestrate and follow-through, or all her troubles would have been for nothing. She disliked the thought of becoming just another Rumpelstiltskin, she wanted to prove her worth to her predecessors. She had managed to survive as prey of the Evil Queen, and now as the Dark One… oh, she thought… the universe was her oyster.

She needed to separate the three sisters; their powers functioned as one only if their minds were in sync with each other. What would happen if one suddenly found herself disagreeing and leaving her sisterhood? Dark Snow cackled with glee. "This is going to be easier than stealing the Enchanted Helm." She continued tramping in the woods as she thought further. "Whom should I target? Everyone has a weakness…"

"It's the wolf, dearie," Rumpelstiltskin replied.

Dark Snow flicked her fingers and the imp disappeared. "I no longer need your services, especially as those services failed in their only task to complete." She stated to the tiny particles of air where the mirage of the man stood. She sat on a boulder. She knew that she needed to think like the old dragon and the Evil Queen, they would be the ones guiding the sisters. Her thoughts mulled over Regina; the woman was all heart. Dark Snow's in-depth knowledge regarding the Evil Queen would definitely be used to her advantage. Every action derived from the woman's heart, if her heart was to be broken then her actions were amplified by the intense hurt. For a second, The Dark One contemplated using Emma Swan as the bait, or maybe little Henry Mills.

With an evil smirk, she flicked her fingers and disappeared in black smoke.

She skipped along the middle of the black sealed road, swinging her arms side to side as if she were skipping in the meadows. Her menacing smile tormenting the citizens that roamed the main street of the town, to whom she must look like a deranged psychopath as her head bounced left to right, right to left as if she were seeking out a willing victim. If only they knew that she had already selected her victim. The brunette woman cackled gleefully in delight. She had decided to adhere to the crocodile's advice hence her current journey towards the town's local diner. She could hear people gasp in surprise at her new demeanor, while others quickly left the street to hide. Obviously, word had traveled quickly about her upgrade.

It wasn't long until she arrived in front of the diner where she knew her prize would be. Dark Snow flicked her fingers and appreciated the arrival of the Enchanted Helm upon her head, as long as she wore the helm any person she desired would obey her every order and with that knowledge she smirked before she flicked her fingers again and the door to the diner slammed into the wall, announcing her arrival.

Wearing a smile, she stepped into the restaurant and glanced around until she saw the leggy brunette standing behind the counter.

"You!" She pointed to the young werewolf. "It seems that stupid book was correct and we were destined to be the best of friends. You're coming with me."

"She's not going anywhere!" A loud voice boomed throughout the room.

"Do you think your crossbow is a threat, old woman?" Dark Snow laughed as if she were watching a comedy show. "Your little weapon is useless against me." She snarled before she flicked her fingers and the weapon disappeared from the old woman's hands. "Tell your family that if they want to rescue little red riding hood here, they will find us under the clock tower at midnight. A second later and she will be dead, but I will ensure that her powers will be left as a reminder to her memory. So much for the Power of Three!" She snickered as she turned and walked out of the diner, the leggy brunette following in her wake.

It was at that moment that Henry found himself face to face with the new dark one. He was supposed to be at school but because Miss Blanchard did not arrive at school, and there was no substitute, he managed to sneak away and decided to go and hang around the diner to see if he could find out what was happening as all the adults within his home refused to include him in any discussions regarding the dark one. He should have stayed at school, he thought grimly as he looked into his former teachers' eyes.

"Oh, this must be my lucky day. I think you will come with me too." Dark Snow smiled before she flicked her fingers to put the boy to sleep and then the trio disappeared out of sight.

"Oh my god! Was that Henry? Did she just take Henry with her?" Anita screamed as she ran to the door in time to see the black smoke disappear. She quickly ran to the Town Hall to Regina as it was closer than the Sheriff Station where Emma was working. Once she arrived at the building she scrambled to Regina's office and threw the door open, surprising her daughter and partner as they sprung apart.

"Mom, what the hell? You don't just barge into people's offices." Emma screamed.

Anita beamed in joy due to being called mom by her blonde daughter only to remember the purpose of her sudden arrival. "Henry!" Anita cried. "She took Henry!"

"Anita? What are you talking about?" Regina asked, hoping she didn't hear correctly.

"She took Henry! Everything went to plan and then she exited with Ruby, but Henry was about to walk into the diner at the same time, she knocked him out and took him." Anita could feel her heart beating ten to the dozen, but that was nothing in comparison to the two faces that stood before her. Emma's eyes glowed a dark gold while Regina's… she gasped when she saw Regina's eyes turn purple as her iris' glowed a brilliant sapphire color.

"She took my son?" The brunette screamed.

Anita wasn't sure what she was currently witnessing, but she knew that whatever it was… it definitely was not the Evil Queen.

"She took my son?" The Queen thundered. "I am going to destroy that… that impious, vile excuse of excrement!" Her voice roared throughout the room and for a moment Anita thought she could still hear the woman's voice echo throughout the corridors.

"Impious, vile excuse of excrement?" Emma laughed loudly. "What the hell kind of insult is that?" She laughed again but quickly gathered herself when she noticed Regina's demeanor. "Babe… what's going on?" She watched Regina stalk back and forth as she carved a new path into the floor in front of her desk. But that wasn't what worried Emma, nor was it the hues of red and gold smoke that radiated around her love, but what did worry the blonde was the sounds of mumbling from the brunette's lips as if she were enchanting spell after spell. The smoke started to thicken and cover the brunette. Emma spun her head towards her mother who continued to stand by the open door, her eyes wide and her mouth gaping in shock at what she was witnessing. Without thinking, Emma walked over to her mother, pulled her along before she grasped onto Regina's arm, and used her emotions and memories to create thoughts of the mansion. Seconds later she felt the swirling in her stomach every time she was transported and then opened her eyes to the smile of her blonde mother, that was until Maleficent noticed Regina's smoke and eyes.

"Emma, you need to calm her down. Like how she helped you, it's your turn to help her. Hurry before it gets too far." The older blonde ordered her daughter before she reached for Anita and pulled her to the side to ask what happened.

Emma mimicked the exact same stance that Regina had when Emma was on the verge of fully turning. She placed her hands on Regina's cheeks, their foreheads and noses touching, and mouths only a breath away. Regina continued to mumble but Emma ignored it. "Babe. My love, my world, my everything. It's time to come home, return to me, sweetheart. I'm here and we will get our son back, baby." The blonde noticed that the mumbling had stopped and felt encouraged to continue talking. "You need to return to me, my love so that we can go and get our son, I can't do this without you. We do this together, always together, you and I." The smoke had cleared, her words were working. "I love you, Regina Mills. I love everything that you are, I love your past, I love your present and my love, I can't wait for our future so that we can continue to grow our love. It's time to come home, sweetheart." As she breathed her final endearment, plump lips crashed into hers, and arms engulfed her waist. Her everything had returned.

Minutes slowly ticked by, until both women finally grasped for air and were quickly reminded of the presence of other people in the room by a cough. As they turned around, they saw that everyone had witnessed what had happened and blushed.

"Ma? What the hell was that?" Emma asked her blonde mother whose eyes sparkled in response. Maleficent walked over and placed a kiss upon her temple before she grasped softly to Regina's forearm.

"I should have known it was you," Maleficent stated.

"What was me? And shouldn't we be trying to get our son and his aunt home?"

"We will, but I think there is a need for another change of plans," Mal suggested.

"Why?" Emma asked.

"Because of Regina."

"What the hell are you talking about now?" Regina questioned her friend.

"Regina, what just happened to you?" Maleficent ignored the question by asking one of her own.

The owner of the mansion frowned. She wasn't sure what happened exactly, one minute her and Emma were making out and then Anita slammed into the room telling them that that bitch had taken her son, and then it felt like her heart had sunk down to the deepest parts of her soul, and the air was ripped out of her lungs. The feeling of Henry possibly dying by the hands of the dark one tore holes into her heart. She thought she had suffered when Daniel died, but there was no comparison to the possibility of losing her son. "Well, now that I think about it, everything in my vision turned blue and I think… I think I was mumbling something."

"Babe, you had red and gold smoke coming out of you, as if you were on fire but there was no fire just smoke," Emma whispered.

"How?"

"You were also mumbling an old language, Regina. A language that had not been heard of in centuries." Maleficent offered to the brunette.

"Then how do you know of it?"

"Because I was taught it by my old people, it was a language that only Red and I know and that I intended to teach the twins. I was taught it in the chance that I came upon the goddess known as Lilith."

"Well, I obviously am not Lilith, Mal." Regina rolled her eyes.

"No, you're her descendent, the Lilitu." Zelena gasped. She had always wondered because she was aware that through her father, Regina was the only living descendent of the great Lilith, and the only female descendent.

"Don't be absurd." Regina admonished. "I didn't do no great incantation or called upon my ancestors to receive whatever powers the Lilitu possesses." How absurd could they be? Believing that she was this great demon or whatever they thought she was.

"Regina. It makes sense. You do realize that you are Lilith's only descendent, right?" Zelena asked.

"Of course, I know who Lilith is, but that doesn't mean anything."

"It does, sis. I researched your family tree. What?" She asked as she noticed her sisters raised eyebrows. "I told you, I have wanted to know you for most of my life so I thought I would do some research. Anyway, you are the only female in your line since… since centuries ago." The redhead's arms flung around as if to imply that it was obvious that Regina is the Lilitu.

"If that's true then why didn't my father say something? Why wouldn't he tell me? I could have stopped my mother from…" Regina gasped when she felt arms wrap around her and pull her towards their owner "He could have saved me, Em." She cried against her lover's chest.

"I know babe. Maybe he had reasons?"

"Everyone believes the Lilitu to be very dark, darker than the dark one, darker than me. The Lilitu is a force to be reckoned with, and cannot be stopped but if that were true then why did you smoke gold and red, and how come your eyes weren't black? Nothing of what I saw screamed darkness, well, maybe the chants you were mumbling." Mal stopped for a moment as everything in her mind fell into place.

"So, what you're saying is that you don't really know what happened to me?" Regina deadpanned.

"I only know what my old people shared with me, no one mentioned colors or any of the sort but I assumed because they spoke of darkness, that black would just be a natural assumption," Mal replied as she slowly walked around the room, thinking. "Unless the two of you joined… oh!" She gasped

"Unless what?" Emma demanded to know.

"Unless she is bound with her counterpart, the person that keeps her balanced, and that she balances in return. Then the darkness would be as equal as the light." The older woman smiled.

"My balance? Are you telling me that Emma is my balance?"

"Well doh, babe. Even I got that." Emma grinned towards her brunette lover

"I still don't understand how a little smoke, colored eyes, and an ancient language implies that I am a great demon, or whatever." Regina shrugged as she walked over to sit on one of the sofas.

"If you think about it, between Rumple and your mother, they probably started the process, your darkness during the Evil Queen era was probably an entry-level version into the Lilitu." Emma thought aloud, surprising the entire room at her thought process. "Unbeknown to you, you had the capacity to be darker and more powerful but the trigger wasn't pulled all the way, so to speak and you could have been darker because you had still to meet your true love, who would have brought equilibrium to your magic."

"That is interesting, my love. Do either of you know what the powers of the Lilitu are?" Regina asked Maleficent and Zelena.

"Actually, I think you all might be the Lilitu," Mal exclaimed. "Think about it… there's Red with the elemental power of earth, she has the ability to manipulate earth. Lily is the element of air and wind, Emma is the Aither and Regina, you're the fire. The four of you are the Lilitu. Although Zelena said that the Lilitu was a single person, that may have been the case for their family, to mine, the Lilitu was always multiple. My girls are the Power of Three but with the addition of Regina… oh my god!" Maleficent screamed as she felt herself get all giddy with excitement. "Oh my god, oh my god, they're the Omnipotent, the Omniscient of Magic! Everything is coming back to me!" She jumped around to hug Lily, Emma, and Regina, who, along with Anita and Zelena remained motionless as they watched the dragon bounce with pleasure. "They're it! Oh my god, I'm alive to actually witness this union, this is one of the best moments of my life." The blonde cried before she fell into the arms of her wife.

All the women looked around at each other for anyone to explain the older woman's behavior, but no one had an ounce of knowledge to what could be said. Anita hugged her wife before she asked for the room. "Dearest, what on earth were you rambling about?"

"They're the royal couple, Regina and Emma, they are our royal family. They are the supreme goddesses, the paramount rulers, the high priestesses. Their true loves kiss bound them together, bound their powers. There is no being stronger than them, the Power of Three bows only to the Royal family. Our dragon babies have grown up and evolved!" The blonde continued to cry into her wife's chest.

"Wow… that's just… wow." Emma mumbled, her face scrunching up in wonder. A second or two later she felt the warm arms of her love around her waist and the distinct smell of apples consume her senses.

"My love, did she just say that I am now a goddess too?" A husky voice whispered into the blonde's ear.

"Aha."

"Do you think she might have been smoking or something?" Regina still did not believe she was the Lilitu or part of the Lilitu or these Omni beings.

"I don't think so, babe. She seems pretty adamant."

"Hmmm… so you and I are not only bound together by true love but also by magic?"

"It sure sounded like it." Emma nibbled her lower lip as she turned to face her sweetheart and snuggled into her arms. "Is that okay with you?"

"Of course, it is. There's no other person in this world that I would rather be bound too." Regina smiled as she tucked a strand of Emma's bangs behind her hair. "It's time for us to go and get our son."

"I agree." Emma responded and then turned to everyone in the room. "What's our plan now? We want our son home."

"Well." Maleficent began.


	15. Chapter 15

Thirty minutes before the scheduled time, the Royal Couple and their family departed the Mayoral Mansion for the clock tower on Maine Street. They walked briskly and quietly. Each person was lost in thought as they made their way, they all knew the plan and the objectives. But no one knew what exactly the Dark One's plans were and it was that lack of information that kept everyone quiet. Before they arrived at Maine Street, the group split up, Maleficent, Anita, and Ursula turned down the alley behind the buildings on one side of Maine Street. Lily, Zelena, and Cruella continued to the alley behind the buildings on the opposite side of Maine Street. Each group walked along the alleys until they arrived at two side alleys that gave them a good view directly in front of the clock tower. Emma and Regina walked down the center of Maine Street, they were tasked to draw out the Dark One.

The Royal Couple held hands as they walked along the street. There was not a sound to be heard, if not for the street lights, the street would be in complete darkness. As they continued down the street, they saw a silhouette waiting for them. It was obvious that it was not the Dark One, but they had no idea who it could be.

"Hello, Regina."

Regina halted her steps to the voice that she hoped she would never hear again.

"Are you not going to greet me?" There was the voice again. Regina squeezed tightly to Emma's hand and looked to the side, to her Loves hazel eyes. The brunette couldn't stop blinking and Emma knew that the brunette was on the verge of panicking. She returned Regina's squeeze of their hands as she allowed her eyes to speak for her. With a smile, Regina turned her gaze to face her mother.

"Hello, Mother. What are you doing here?"

The redhead chuckled as she gazed upon her daughter and took a step closer. "Do you really need to ask, Regina? Who would have thought that it would be that mousey brat to kill Rumpelstiltskin?" She shook her head in disgust. "She brought me here through a portal and demanded I help her to kill you."

"And, of course, you agreed." The brunette deadpanned as she stepped in front of Emma to protect her. Emma grinned in response, although she loved the protective stance, both women knew that there was nothing or no one that could defeat them, individually or together.

"Don't be silly! I've waited what felt like an eternity to finally return to you and apologize. But, I do need your help." The older Mills pleaded.

"My help?" It was Regina's turn to laugh. "I find it rather amusing that you believe I would help you, let alone trust you. All I had ever wanted was a mother that loved me, and… you were not that. You were abusive, brutal, sadistic, manipulative, merciless, and many other things, but love me? No, you never did that." Regina spat at her mother. "How dare you seek my assistance to keep you alive." She growled.

"I made you, Regina. I am the reason you are now feared, I am the reason you became a Queen! You owe me!"

"I owe you nothing!" Regina fumed. She could feel her magic screaming to be released but she maintained her control.

"I had to treat you like that, don't you see? If not for your insipid fool of a father I would have succeeded and you would have been unstoppable. But that cretin refused to let you go completely evil." Cora Mills rambled. She was completely lost in her anger that she unknowingly revealed why she was cruel to Regina. "He knew what you were capable of becoming, and that cretin refused to allow you to become what you were always meant to be until he knew that you could be saved. I should have killed him, as I did that stupid stable boy. I should have killed Henry the day that you were born so that you would have never known what it felt like to be loved. I needed you to be angry, for your heart to be consumed by hatred and darkness so that you could fulfill that damn prophecy and rule. But your father, your father loved you and you loved him, I should have killed…" Her words halted as she started to choke, it felt like her vocal cords had closed and refused air to travel into her lungs. Tears glistened in her eyes when her daughter appeared into her view.

"You seek my help and then speak of my father and Daniel in that manner?" Regina admonished. "I should kill you right here." She threatened. "I have no doubt that you can feel my power and that is what led you to betray the Dark One, which leads me to believe that she has yet to be aware of my new found abilities." Regina eased the magic around her mother's throat to allow the woman to breathe as she wanted her to listen carefully to what she had to say.

Emma watched as Regina stalked towards her mother and halted in front of her. She had no idea what her Love planned to do with the woman, but whatever she decided, Emma knew that it would be deserving.

Maleficent stood with her wife and friend wondering why Emma and Regina were taking so long to get to the clock tower. As she looked at her watch, she noticed that there were still five minutes left before the Dark One arrived. When her gaze returned to the clock tower, she gasped in surprise.

"You have got to be kidding me!" She grumbled as she watched her former friend, lover, and enemy stomp towards them. "Stefan? What in the damnation of hell are you doing here?"

"Mal?" He whispered in panic as he ran towards her. Once a long time ago the two had been in love but then he had betrayed the blonde beauty by cutting off her wings. He thought he had done the right thing to become the King of his father's kingdom, but guilt ate away at him. For years, they had fought as Maleficent sought out her wings, but it wasn't until his daughter Aurora had turned sixteen that he was made aware of the great relationship between his daughter and former lover. However, that did not stop him from attacking the witch who had reunited with her wings, they fought and fought but she had eventually won. As he fell from the highest turret of his castle he thought it would be the end to his torturous life but was surprised to find himself within the claws of the beautiful dragon. Since that day, the two drew up a treaty that their two kingdoms would become one under the rule of his daughter, Aurora. That was nearly fifty years ago and was the final time he had seen his friend.

"What are you doing here?" Mal asked as she pulled the man off the street. The blonde refused to look at her wife as she knew what she would see.

"I don't know!" He breathed. "I was in my castle when a portal opened and a hand reached for me, pulling me through. On my arrival, a woman dressed in black asked if I would be happy to finally kill my long-lost enemy."

"And of course, you said yes?" Mal questioned.

"Of course, I did. I thought she had meant Phillip! I want to kill him for abandoning Aurora, thank the lord for Fa Mulan who returned my daughter's smile. In any case, when she said your name, I was shocked. That woman is a maniac. After she finished cackling she threatened to kill me if I refused to do away with you. Mal? I can't hurt you!" The pitch of the man's voice rose as his final words flew out of his mouth. He cupped the blonde's cheek and looked deeply into her eyes but halted when he heard a low threatening growl behind him.

Mal grinned at her friend, she held no feelings but friendship for the man but she knew he still loved her. "You might want to release my cheek, Stefan before my wife kills you for the Dark One." The man dropped his hand and turned towards Anita. "I apologize, Anita. I'm just in a panic as I don't want to die."

"Mmmhmmmmm," Anita replied with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm going to send you to a place where you will be safe. Once we are done here, we will figure out how to send you home. Okay?" Mal suggested.

"Yes, yes, yes. Thank you!" Stefan smiled before he vanished from the alley.

"What the hell was that, Maleficent? Letting him paw you like that!"

"Dearest. You know my heart belongs to you and only you. I hold no feelings towards Stefan other than friendship as he is the father of my goddaughter." Maleficent soothed her wife with a kiss to her lips.

"He's lucky I didn't maul him." Anita sulked.

"You two are nearly worse than Emma and Regina. Don't you think we should focus on the problem at hand?" Ursula reminded the couple before a loud scream pierced her ears, only to realize the scream came from her.

Across the road, Cruella, Lily, and Zelena had their own gift from the past thanks to the Dark One.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Wicked Witch of the West. I've missed you Zelena!" The woman laughed as she ran towards the redhead.

"Dottie! I've missed you too and ooh, there's someone I want you to meet too I think you and her would hit it off if you know what I mean." Zelena winked at her friend before she pulled the woman in for a hug. "What in the blazers are you doing here, Dottie?"

"Some witch brought me here, she thinks you and I are enemies, I have no idea why." The newcomer frowned at the thought.

"Was she dressed in black and seemed a little mentally unstable?" Lily asked.

"Yes! Who is she?"

"She's the new Dark One, and if I'm thinking she thinks you are my enemy because they have our story wrong in this realm."

"Well, that's stupid… don't they know that you are only wicked when you want to cause mischief?" Dorothy laughed.

"Oh shush!" Zelena blushed. "Anyway, did she threaten you?"

"Yup, she said she would kill me if I didn't kill you. Ah… hello… you have magic and I have magical shoes? Like how the hell am I supposed to kill you? Dance on your toes?" All the women burst out laughing before they heard an earsplitting scream from across the road. Forgetting their plan, the group ran to where the older women were supposed to be.


	16. Chapter 16

**As I wrote this, actually even leading up to this chapter, I realized that I really suck at writing angst lol I just want everyone to be happy and love each other, but of course, that's a great wish haha. So, I apologize if the lead up to the fight was bigger than the actual fight. I wanted Harry Potter/SwanQueen kicking ass kind of styles, but like I said… I suck LoL. Maybe in the future, I will stick to romance and drama. **

**P.S The spell used to summon the Darkness is taken from Season Four of Once Upon a Time. The spell was used to summon the Darkness and contain it in the Sorcerer's Hat. I changed a few words to align with this story.**

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She watched the flock of witches run towards the side alley as she cackled in delight atop the clocktower. With pride, her eyes flashed a sinister sable color. Her plan was brilliant, distract and attack, as easy as pie. She looked down at the sword in her hand and her lip curled in satisfaction. She had taken the sword from the Sheriff's evidence vault and enhanced it to not only be capable of blocking magic but to drain the magic of whomever it touches. With a wave of a hand, she disappeared from her belvedere to attack her second victim. As soon as she appeared behind the woman, she plunged Charming's sword into the back of the redhead.

"As easy as drinking a glass of water." The Dark One's penetrating voice whispered into Zelena's ear as the sword absorbed her magic. She slowly twisted the weapon before she pulled it out and laughed as the redhead screamed in agony.

A moment later, Dark Snow reappeared atop the clocktower. She could feel the monstrous presence of the powerful magic she had stolen from the two witches. Now, she needed one more to complete her mission. Finally, she will have her revenge on the Evil Queen and reign supreme as she joins Underbrooke with Storybrooke, then, along with her predecessors, they will defeat the Power of Three.

A second curdling scream echoed throughout the streets and redirected Regina's body from the alley to the middle of the road. "Zelena!" She ran towards her sister who laid sprawled on the ground, blood pooled around her. "Zelena!" She cried as fell down beside the redhead. "I've got you, sis."

"Regina." Zelena breathed out slowly. "That bitch got me, put a spell around you and Emma to protect yourselves. She stabbed me from behind." The Wicked Witch whispered

"Stay with me, please. You can't leave me, I just found you!" Regina begged as a lone tear fell and landed on her older sister's forehead. "Zelena, please, please, I can't lose you!" She pulled her sister snug against her chest and kissed her temple as her stricken tears fell.

"I love you," Zelena whispered as her body drooped in her sister's arms.

Meanwhile, Emma found herself to be in the same misfortune as Regina, while she held her mother's body against her. "Mama! You can't die, you can't leave us!" The blonde pleaded as she held her mother's body and felt her tears free fall over Maleficent's face. She tightened her fists in anger. How could this happen? She just found her parents. How did that bitch do this? Emma knew that there was no doubt in her mind, she was going to kill that snarly, deceitful imp.

"Whe… when." Mal stuttered as she tried to reign in a breath. "When I die, my body will turn to ash, collect them. But you will need her blood. Only her blood will work. Mix a drop of her blood with my ashes. You will know how to bring me back. We're immortal. I love you, Emma. Now, go to your wife, she needs you." Emma pulled her mother into her arms and kissed her cheek.

"I love you," Emma whispered before she returned her mother's body into her brunette mother's arms. She placed a kiss to Anita's temple then went in search of Regina.

Emma ran to the middle of the road where she saw Regina hugging Zelena's body. As she neared, a rush of electricity hit her in the chest. Her body was paralyzed, her eyes closed, and her heart started to beat rapidly. She could feel her body heating up and there was nothing she could do. Her breathing became shallow and unable to stop herself, she passed out. What seemed like hours later, but was only seconds, Emma opened her eyes and saw that she was suspended by an electrical force in the air. Her arms were splayed open and her head flung back. To her left, she could just make out Regina in the exact pose before she saw an inferno of red, orange, and gold flames had engulfed the brunette.

"Regina!" Emma tried to scream but to no avail as her vision became clouded by an array of blue hues.

The crowd below gasped in shock as they watched the incandescent colors above that encompassed the two immobilized women. Jaws hung wide open, hands covered jaws, and tears welled, but not one person had panicked at the scene before them. Although they weren't sure what exactly was occurring, it was definitely not part of their plan. It was obvious that it had to be another transition in the status of the royal couple.

Anita could not stop her tears as she held her wife's body tight to her body, but never once dropped her eyes from the two flaming inferno's that embraced her daughter and daughter-in-law. For the moment, she had forgotten that her wife should have turned to ash already, but her mind was enchanted by the beautiful show above.

Regina looked around the cocoon of magical colors and felt a power within her that she had never felt before, a very raw power that brought her inner peace. She could also feel Emma's energy bubbling with excitement. That brought a grin to her features, for she knew that Emma would of course feel excited about their current predicament. There wasn't an ounce of fear within either woman.

Regina thought of Emma and attempted to communicate telepathically. "Darling, can you hear me?"

"Regina? Gina is that you?" She heard Emma's voice respond.

"It is, my Love. I can feel you; you feel excited."

"I am. The colors are magnificent, there are so many blues. And I feel so at peace. The only time I have felt this way is when I'm in your arms. Are you okay?" Emma asked.

"Yes, darling. I am good. I'm not sure what's happening but I guess it has something to do with our new powers. My colors are red and gold."

"I know, I saw your flames. Oh, something is happening. I love you!"

"I love you too, darling." Regina smiled.

A frown stiffened the Dark One's face as she watched the scene unfold. She tried to scan through her Dark One memory to identify the obvious transformation that was taking place. She watched as each ball of fire opened and revealed the Savior and the Evil Queen. Each flame slowly unfurled into magnificent wings as each woman remained suspended. They looked like birds.

"No." Dark Snow gasped in horror. She continued to watch as a myriad of blue-colored flames hung above Emma's head and created the head of a phoenix, and gold flames sculptured the birds intense and brilliant eyes. "This cannot be happening. It's a myth!" Snow screamed. She turned to look at Regina and screamed again as Regina's phoenix head was red and gold with piercing sapphire irises. "How can this be real? It has to be a prank, a joke. They're trying to manipulate me. That's it. It's just magic. This can't be real." The ominous woman ranted and raved.

Once the transformation had been completed, Regina and Emma lowered themselves to the ground and ran directly into each other's arms. Their flames had flared out after the transformation. As their family finally relaxed, no one but the women who held them had noticed two women who earlier took their last breath, gasp as the breath of life returned to them.

"Anita?" Maleficent whispered as she looked up into the crying eyes of her wife. "How?"

"How do you think, dearest? Our daughter." She cried as she pulled her wife into her arms.

"Dottie? What the hell? Am I a zombie?" Zelena shrieked.

"Yeah, Z. You're a zombie." Dorothy rolled her eyes as she pulled her best friend to her. "I'm so glad you're back."

"She brought me back? It is true? She can raise the dead?" Zelena gasped and Dorothy couldn't help but laugh and nod her head in response.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" The Dark One screamed in defeat as she realized that what she hoped to be a prank was anything but. She helplessly watched the stolen magic leave the sword and return to their truest owners. "Nooooooooooooooooo! How did you take their power from me?" She screeched as she stormed towards the group of women. "I am going to kill your son and your sister, then I will retu…"

She never had time to complete her sentence as Emma had appeared behind the screaming banshee and placed her hand upon Snow's head. Emma called upon her pure white magic and chanted the spell to summon the Darkness from the rambling brunette.

_Purest evil, blackest bloom,_

_Darkness too can find its doom,_

_Never dying, but contained, _

_Bound inside the hearts of the progeny,_

_Shorn of anger, and tempting danger,_

_There forever to remain. _

It was another sight to behold. Dark Snow sank her knees to the ground, with her head flung back. Everyone watched as a black, tar-like substance spewed out of her mouth. The string of Darkness grew in size as it hovered above the now-former Dark One.

Regina flicked her eyes over to two newcomers to the evening's festivities and sighed in relief. Red and Henry had emerged from the Library. She then stalked towards their captive and snarled as black beady eyes flickered between her and Emma.

"Hello, Snow." Regina greeted as she stepped to the left of the ball of Darkness and stood over the woman. "You have been a bad girl, and now it's time for your punishment." She chuckled. Regina was glad that Snow White's mouth was preoccupied as she imagined the whining that would have sprung forth. "You thought that you would win this game by separating the girls from each other, but very typical of the spoilt brat that you are, you failed to do all of your research." She laughed loudly.

Emma continued her hold over Snow as she watched her lover glare at their captive. Regina clicked her fingers and the Dark One's dagger and Charming's sword appeared in her hand. Snow's eyes enlarged in shock as Regina examined the dagger before she transported the sword to her vault to be dealt with later and handed the dagger to Emma. "That's right. You see, when the girls received their powers, one of Lily's powers allowed her to glimpse pieces of the future. So, we countered the split by putting a protection spell over Red. She went willingly with you and kept us in touch with what you were doing. Unfortunately, that did not work out well as you kept your plans well hidden, surprisingly. But that did not worry us, for the Power of Three was still strong enough to defeat you. But then, as it turned out, theirs was not the only ancient power to be returned to the world." She clicked her tongue and teeth together as she contemplated her next words. "You were too focused on your mission and your revenge that by kidnapping our son, you impelled the return of the Lilitu."

Regina stood directly in front of Snow as the last spills of Darkness left her a broken-down wreck on the road. Everyone watched the dark orb as it continued to hover before it swirled into a whirling tornado that seemed to reach the dark sky, yet there were no sounds of jet engines or a breeze of wind. Regina held her breath as the tornado split to form three smaller tornados that flew in different directions in search of their progeny. Emma, Lily, and Red stood firm with their heads high as each was pulled into the tunnel of their corresponding tornados. Minutes passed by, and slowly the tornados slowed as each woman inhaled slithers of black tar through their noses. As Emma inhaled the final cord of Darkness, she held out the Dark One's dagger and with her light magic, eradicated the object into dust. The power of the Holy Grail had been returned. Regina waved for Emma, Red, and Lily to join her and together they stood. "Snow, now that the stolen darkness has been returned to its rightful owners, let me introduce you to the Lilitu."

Snow looked up at the women and scoffed. "Oh please, I could have killed you all." As much as she had liked to believe that, Snow knew that would never have happened. The earlier phoenix transformations were evidence of what the Dark One memory thought to have been a myth. The Royalty of Magic had been restored.

Regina rolled her eyes at the revolving idiot. "Once we received our powers, you were never a threat to us. Why do you think we all separated into groups? Our family only attended because we didn't know what your thoughtless brain would concoct or bring into this war. And what a joke you were!" Regina cried in dismay. "Who brings friends of your enemies to a fight? Excluding my mother, of course. Nevertheless, all Emma and I needed to do was be in your presence. And as you recently experienced, that's how easy it was to defeat the Dark One, _dearie." _Regina laughed.

"Snow," Emma interjected and knelt down to look directly into Snow White's eyes. "I took all of the darkness but your own. You have a lot of darkness within you and it's slowly growing. I don't know how anyone believed you to be a hero or to be fair and good. You are anything but that. I don't like you. Right now, I am on the verge of taking your life. You killed my mother and I need your blood to resurrect her. Surprisingly." Emma shrugged. "I have no problems with killing you."

"Emma!" The blonde stopped any further discussion when she heard her name called. She quickly turned towards the call and saw her blonde mother standing against her other mother. "Don't kill her just yet," Maleficent yelled.

"Mama?" Emma smiled before the sisters ran over to hug their mother. "Mama? How? What? Who?" The girls had had so many questions.

When Regina realized that Maleficent was still alive, her eyes flew over the crowd to look for her sister and with a smile she also ran towards their family, not without waving her hand first, to send Snow White to a cell.

"Zelena?" Regina poked her sister to see if she were in fact real. When she felt the firm body under her finger, she jumped into her sister's arms. "You're back!" The brunette cried.

Maleficent pulled Emma into her arms. "Thank you, thank you both for saving us." She cried into her daughters' neck.

"We saved you?" Emma gasped. "How?" She asked as she pulled away from the embrace to look at her mother.

"Your tears. The tears of the phoenix are extremely powerful and have immense healing powers. You cried over us as we were on the brink of death." Zelena explained.

"Wow…" Emma was astounded. Although, she witnessed and felt all the changes to her body, and all of her powers, everything still felt out of this world for her. Now she can heal people that are on their deathbeds? "That is just wow."

Regina could feel the overwhelming emotions within her partner and moved over to wrap her arms around Emma. "It's alright, darling. Once we return our visitors, I promise you that we will have time for us to catch up on all of the changes." She gave Emma a quick peck on the lips. "Why don't we reunite with our son, and take our family home?"

"I like the sound of that, babe." Emma smiled.


End file.
